In what many will consider to be a
further blow to the administration of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on
the international scene, a leading international firm has given the ‘Thumbs
Down’ to one of his own nominees.
Report has learned that his
corruption tainted Minister of Petroleum Resources, Ms. Diezani
Alison-Madueketo, failed to make the grade, and has failed to become the first
female Secretary-General of OPEC.
The news comes barely twenty-four
hours after President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria nominated her as a candidate
for the highly coveted post.
At its meeting today, OPEC members
decided to extend the tenure of Abdullah al-Badri of Iraq, the current
Secretary General, until June of 2015. He was expected to step down from that
post in December of this year.
OPEC’s decision to extend Abdullah
al-Badri’s tenure for another year was unexpected, and it is also considered a
blow to the Nigerian president. Insiders say that Jonathan had groomed his
choice for the highly coveted post during the years of his tenure as president
despite a swirl of murky issues that has followed her career.
Alison-Madueke is also one of the
most controversial ministers in the Jonathan administration, having been rocked
by numerous allegations of financial improprieties.
In one 2012 instance that came to
light, an investigation by SaharaReporters revealed that Diezani
Alison-Madueke, had booked and paid for two rooms in two separate high-cost
hotels. This occurred during the four
nights she spent in New York City during the 2012 United Nations General
Assembly.
At one of the hotels, the Petroleum
Minister’s room on the 28th floor of the Pierre Hotel cost Nigerian tax payers
$3,000 per night.
Saharareporters discovered that Joe
Mordi, one of the Petroleum Minister’s closest aides who works at the NNPC
office in London, had booked Alison-Madueke into a one-bedroom suite at the
exclusive Four Seasons Hotel located at the ritzy upscale mid-town New York
address of 57 East 57th Street. The room at that hotel ran for the
astounding price of $5,000.00 U.S. Dollars a night.
It is not clear what happens next for
Alison-Madueke, as she is likely to retain her post as Minister of Petroleum
Resources in the Jonathan administration. But the rejection of her bid for the
high post inside of OPEC will not go unnoticed beyond the borders of Nigeria in
the years to come.
Source Saharareporters
