The long-awaited corruption trial of former Nigerian Petroleum Minister and first female OPEC President, Diezani Alison-Madueke, is set to commence in London on Monday.
The 65-year-old faces five charges of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, all allegedly tied to her tenure as Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources from 2010 to 2015, during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
Alison-Madueke is accused of receiving “financial or other advantages” from individuals associated with two energy companies between 2011 and 2015.
According to court documents, these benefits included refurbishments on London properties, furniture, chauffeur-driven cars, private jet flights to Nigeria, and £100,000 ($137,000) in cash.
Additional allegations suggest she accepted bribes such as school fees for her son, luxury items from stores like Harrods and Louis Vuitton, and further private jet flights.
The indictment states that receiving these benefits amounted to “improper performance” of her official duties.
She appeared last week at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London for preliminary matters, including technical discussions and jury selection.
The trial is expected to last between 10 and 12 weeks.
Two other individuals, Doye Agama and Olatimbo Ayinde, are also being prosecuted in connection with the bribery allegations.
Alison-Madueke, who has been on bail since her first London arrest in October 2015, denies all charges. In 2023, the National Crime Agency (NCA) formally charged her with bribery-related offences.
At the time, the NCA said: “We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million-pound contracts.”
Earlier in 2023, the NCA said it provided evidence to U.S. prosecutors that enabled the recovery of $53.1 million in assets linked to Alison-Madueke.
These included luxury properties in California and New York, as well as a 65-metre (213-foot) superyacht, the Galactica Star, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Born in 1960 in the oil hub of Port Harcourt, Alison-Madueke studied architecture in the United Kingdom and the United States before joining Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary.
She later held several key government positions, first as Transport Minister under President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2007, then as Minister of Mines and Steel Development.
In April 2010, she was appointed Minister of Petroleum Resources by President Jonathan and went on to make history in 2014 as the first female OPEC president, a position she held for about a year. (AFP)
