Photos shows cancer-stricken Diezani Alison-Madueke in hospital

Former Nigerian Oil Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke [Ovation Magazine/Boss Newspaper]

LAGOS — Dele Momodu, the publisher of Ovation magazine, has released photos of cancer-weakened Nigeria’s former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, in the inaugural issue of a brand new tabloid titled Boss magazine.


Mr. Momodu released the text of an interview with Mrs. Madueke along with photos of the physically ravaged former minister. The shocking photos are a far cry from the ex-minister’s former radiant and energetic persona.

However, the release of the former minister’s devastated physique has left many Nigerians on social media still skeptical. Many commentators have speculated that images of her ravaged appearance could have been “photo-shopped” in order to curry public sympathy for a woman who was one of the brashest members of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet.

Mr. Momodu, after being called earlier to release the original photos has said he could not, explaining that he had signed “several” legal agreements never to release the photos to a third party.

In September, the UK National Crimes Agency arrested Mrs. Alison-Madueke in connection with fraud. She was granted bail and has not been charged in any British court. However, UK authorities confiscated some cash from Mrs. Alison-Madueke, her mother, Beatrice Agama, and Melanie Spencer, the wife of Kevin Okyere, a Ghanaian businessman identified as one of the former minister’s alleged co-conspirators.

SOURCE: Bloom Gist, Sahara Reporters, Ovation Newspaper, The Boss Magazine