British prosecutors alleged that former Nigerian oil minister, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, took bribes, including luxury goods and high-end properties from industry figures interested in lucrative oil and gas contracts as her corruption trial began on Tuesday in London.
Proceedings in the alleged corruption trial of Mrs Alison-Madueke were stalled on Monday at the Crown Court in Southwark due to technical difficulties.
The 65 year old was Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources between 2010 and 2015 under then-president Goodluck Jonathan and was also briefly president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the first woman to hold either role.
Her tenure, however, has been dogged by multiple allegations of corruption, both locally and internationally, since she left office in 2015.
She was first arrested by British authorities in London in October 2015 as part of a major corruption investigation.
Since that arrest, Mrs Alison-Madueke has remained on bail while investigations continued, with the case drawing sustained attention due to its scale and the seniority of the individuals involved.
In 2023, the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) formally charged the Bayelsa State-born oil expert, accusing her of accepting bribes over a four-year period between 2011 and 2015. She was charged with five counts of accepting bribes and a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery, which she denies.
At the proceeding, Mrs Alison-Madueke sat in the dock alongside oil industry executive Mrs Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, who is charged with one count of bribery relating to Alison-Madueke and a separate count of bribery of a foreign public official. Her brother, former archbishop Doye Agama, is charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and is listening to the trial by video link for medical reasons.
Prosecutor Alexandra Healy told jurors at London’s Southwark Crown Court that Mrs Alison-Madueke “enjoyed a life of luxury in London”, where she often stayed.
The prosecutor also said this was provided by those interested in being awarded or retaining contracts with Nigerian state-owned companies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, then a corporation.
Ms Healy said Mrs Alison-Madueke was given the use of high-end properties and vast quantities of luxury goods by people who “clearly believed she would use her influence to favour them”.
She added that there was no evidence that the accused awarded contracts to someone who should not have had one, adding that given Mrs Alison-Madueke’s role “she should not have accepted benefits from those who were no doubt doing extremely lucrative business in oil and gas with government-owned entities.”
Other benefits named include the use of a chauffeur-driven car and a private jet, as well as expensive goods including some paid for in one extravagant 2013 shopping trip to Harrods, a renowned luxury department store located in London.
She is also alleged to have had her son’s school fees paid by Nigerian businessman Benedict Peters, who is named on the indictment but is not facing trial.
Her accomplice Mrs Ayinde is charged with bribing the defendant between 2012 and 2014 and also bribing the then-managing director of NNPC, Mr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, who is also not on trial, in 2015.
Ms Healy said that, after President Jonathan was replaced by Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, Mrs Ayinde paid a “substantial bribe” to Mr Kachikwu to ensure her friend continued to work in the NNPC.