FORMER Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, took bribes including luxury goods and the use of high-end properties from industry figures interested in lucrative oil and gas contracts, British prosecutors said at her corruption trial on Tuesday in London.
Alison-Madueke was Minister for 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.
The 65-year-old is now one of the most high-profile former energy officials to stand trial for alleged corruption, having been charged in 2023 with five counts of accepting bribes and a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery, which she denies.
Prosecutor Alexandra Healy told jurors at London’s Southwark Crown Court that Alison-Madueke “enjoyed a life of luxury in London”, where she often stayed, provided by those interested in contracts with Nigerian state-owned companies.
Accused of Accepting Use of Private Jet
Healy said 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”.
There was no evidence Alison-Madueke awarded contracts to someone who should not have had one, but it was improper for her to have accepted benefits from those doing business with government-owned entities, Healy said.
Alison-Madueke sat in the dock alongside oil industry executive, 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.
Alison-Madueke’s brother, 69-year-old Doye Agama, is charged with conspiracy to commit bribery relating to Agama’s church and is listening to the trial by video link for medical reasons.
Ayinde and Agama also deny the charges against them.
Alison-Madueke is accused of accepting various financial benefits from individuals in the Nigerian oil industry between 2011 and 2015. They include the use of a chauffeur-driven car and a private jet.
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.
Nigeria’s Oil Wealth
Kolawole Aluko, another Nigerian businessman who is named in one charge but is not standing trial, spent more than 2 million pounds ($2.75 million) on items for Alison-Madueke at Harrods alone, Healy told the court.
Alison-Madueke frequently stayed with her family in a mansion outside London provided for her by Aluko, who had bought the property through a company for 3.25 million pounds and paid for bills, staff and refurbishments, Healy added.
Ayinde is charged with bribing Alison-Madueke between 2012 and 2014 and also bribing the then-managing director of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, who is also not on trial, in 2015.
Healy said that after Jonathan was replaced as president by Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, Ayinde paid a “substantial bribe” to Kachikwu to ensure her friend continued to work in the NNPC.
Nigeria is one of the world’s largest producers of oil and the largest in Africa, extracting around 1.53 million barrels per day in December according to a Reuters survey, which is around 1.4% of global supply.
But mismanagement and corruption, among other factors, have hampered development and prevented its oil wealth from benefiting wider Nigerian society.
Healy told the jury that, while it might seem unusual for allegations of bribing Nigerian officials to be heard in London, it reflected the links to Britain the three defendants had.
She said corruption “undermines the proper functioning of the global market” and it was important to stop conduct in Britain which could further corruption elsewhere. (Reuters)
