The Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has deleted a social media post which contained a false report that the former minister of petroleum resources Diezani Alison-Madueke admitted stealing $9 billion and begged President Bola Tinubu for clemency to return to Nigeria.
The anti-graft agency made the post on Saturday. It immediately went viral.
However, two hours later, the anti-graft agency pulled down the post.
Diezani was alleged to have spoken with journalists in the United Kingdom where she is facing bribery charges.
Spokesperson of the EFCC Dele Oyewale said the post was not authorised.
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“The report is not from the EFCC. Anything that is not signed by me is not from us (the EFCC),” Oyewale was quoted as saying by PUNCH.
Diezani, 63, was petroleum minister between 2010 and 2015, during the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
In October, she appeared before Westminster Magistrates Court in the UK over an alleged £100,000 bribery offence. She was granted bail by the court upon meeting the conditions which included the sum of £70,000 surety.
The Nigerian government has since requested her extradition to face money laundering charges.
