Two senior Dominican officials have addressed
controversy surrounding the citizenship status of the former oil minister
Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Vince Henderson, Dominica’s permanent
representative to the United Nations, and Emmanuel Nanthan said that as a part
of Dominica’s Citizenship Programme the country issues the diplomatic passports
to non-citizens. This aspect is a vital for the program as it motivates
different foreign business leaders to serve as “ambassadors” for the Dominica ;
Naij reports.
Nanthan said, ''In the case of Alison-Madueke, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed her file over to a due diligence agency to perform the background check. You need to remember that when she went through the background check, she had not been charged with any crimes. She was a highly respected individual. Forbes had named her woman of the year, she had been the chairperson of OPEC in the past.”
While Mr. Henderson added: “She was a public figure who was well known internationally. At the time there was no question about her bona fides nor was there any charge or allegation against her of which we were aware.
“When a due diligence check is conducted on someone today, it looks at the past. It’s not a predictor of the future. Such criticism is not fair on the government. It’s like having a friend and you do not know they were involved in a criminal activity, that doesn’t make you a bad person. When we heard of the arrest, we immediately suspended our relationship with Alison-Madueke.”
Nanthan said, ''In the case of Alison-Madueke, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed her file over to a due diligence agency to perform the background check. You need to remember that when she went through the background check, she had not been charged with any crimes. She was a highly respected individual. Forbes had named her woman of the year, she had been the chairperson of OPEC in the past.”
While Mr. Henderson added: “She was a public figure who was well known internationally. At the time there was no question about her bona fides nor was there any charge or allegation against her of which we were aware.
“When a due diligence check is conducted on someone today, it looks at the past. It’s not a predictor of the future. Such criticism is not fair on the government. It’s like having a friend and you do not know they were involved in a criminal activity, that doesn’t make you a bad person. When we heard of the arrest, we immediately suspended our relationship with Alison-Madueke.”
-Naij.com
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