REVEALED; How former Minister allegedly collected 100, 000 pounds bribe

REVEALED; How former Minister allegedly collected 100, 000 pounds bribe

Prosecutors have laid out detailed allegations against former Nigerian petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke at the Crown Court in Southwark, England, accusing her of accepting bribes from business figures seeking access to Nigeria’s lucrative oil and gas sector.

Opening the case before the jury on Tuesday, prosecutor Alexandra Healy told the court that Alison-Madueke allegedly received cash payments and luxury benefits while in office.

According to Healy, the former minister accepted £100,000 ($137,680) in cash, along with private jet flights, chauffeur-driven vehicles, and high-end items from retailers including Louis Vuitton and Harrods.

Alison-Madueke, 65, is facing five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

The charges relate to her time as Nigeria’s Minister for Petroleum Resources between 2010 and 2015 under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Prosecutors allege that she received “financial or other advantages” from individuals connected to the Atlantic Energy and SPOG Petrochemical groups during that period.

She appeared in court alongside oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde and her brother, Doye Agama, 69, both of whom are also facing bribery-related charges.

The case is being heard before Judge Michael Snow.

The former minister had previously pleaded not guilty to all charges and was granted bail in October 2015 following her initial arrest.

As proceedings resumed on Tuesday, Healy stressed the broader implications of corruption, telling the court: “Bribery and corruption undermine the proper functioning of the global market,” while underscoring the importance of preventing such practices from crossing international borders.

The prosecution further alleged that Alison-Madueke frequently stayed in luxury properties supplied by individuals seeking contracts with Nigerian state-owned oil companies.

Healy claimed that she also received valuable goods and property from people who believed she would use her influence to advance their commercial interests.

However, the prosecutor acknowledged that there was no evidence showing Alison-Madueke improperly awarded contracts.

Despite this, Healy maintained that her acceptance of benefits from individuals engaged in highly profitable oil-and-gas transactions with government entities was inappropriate given her senior role.

Healy also accused Ayinde, the second defendant, of bribing Alison-Madueke between 2012 and 2014 and of making improper payments to the former managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, in 2015. Kachikwu is not a defendant in the case.

According to the prosecution, following the election of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, Ayinde allegedly paid a “substantial bribe” to Kachikwu to secure continued employment for a personal associate at NNPC.

The trial follows charges brought in 2023 by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), which accused Alison-Madueke of accepting bribes over a four-year period when she wielded significant influence in Nigeria’s oil industry.

At the time, the agency stated: “We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million-pound contracts.”