LONDON: The corruption trial of Diezani Alison-Madueke, former Minister of Petroleum Resources and the first woman to serve as President of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), commenced in London on Monday.
Alison-Madueke, 65, is facing five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery over allegations linked to her tenure as Nigeria’s oil minister between 2010 and 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Prosecutors allege that she received financial or other advantages from individuals connected to two energy companies between 2011 and 2015.
The alleged benefits include the use of several London properties, refurbishment works and staff costs, furniture, chauffeur-driven vehicles, a private jet flight to Nigeria, and £100,000 in cash.
Further charges allege that the former minister also received additional inducements, including the payment of school fees for her son, luxury goods from high-end retailers such as Harrods and Louis Vuitton, and multiple private jet flights.
According to the indictment, the acceptance of these benefits amounted to the improper performance of her official duties as Nigeria’s petroleum minister.
Alison-Madueke appeared in a London court last week for preliminary proceedings, including jury selection and other technical matters, ahead of the trial, which is expected to last between 10 and 12 weeks.
Two other defendants, Doye Agama and Olatimbo Ayinde, are also standing trial on bribery-related charges connected to the case.
The former minister has been on bail since her arrest in London in October 2015 and has consistently denied all allegations. In 2023, the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) formally charged her with offences relating to the acceptance of bribes.
At the time, the NCA said it suspected Alison-Madueke of abusing her position in Nigeria to receive financial rewards in exchange for awarding multi-million-pound contracts.
Earlier in 2023, the agency disclosed that it had provided evidence to United States prosecutors, leading to the recovery of assets worth $53.1 million linked to the alleged corruption.
The recovered assets included luxury properties in California and New York, as well as a 65-metre superyacht, Galactica Star, according to the US Department of Justice.
Born in 1960 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Alison-Madueke studied architecture in the United Kingdom and the United States before joining the Nigerian subsidiary of oil giant Shell.
She later entered politics, serving as Minister of Transport in 2007 under the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, and later as Minister of Mines and Steel Development.
She was appointed Minister of Petroleum Resources in April 2010 and went on to become OPEC’s first female president in 2014, a position she held for about one year.
