Alison-Madueke Denies UK Bribery and Corruption Charges
Former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke has told a London court she never accepted bribes or abused her office during her tenure. Appearing at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, the 65-year-old rejected prosecution claims that she traded government contracts for millions of pounds in luxury perks. Addressing the jury, she portrayed herself as a reformer who “tried to push back on corruption” in a system she described as inherently dysfunctional since the colonial era.
The prosecution alleges a sophisticated web of bribery funded by Nigerian businessmen to secure her favour. Evidence presented includes over £2m spent at Harrods and £4.6m used to refurbish properties in London and Buckinghamshire. Alison-Madueke dismissed these figures as legitimate business expenses. She argued that costs incurred during official engagements were merely logistics managed by a service company and were later reimbursed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).
The former minister blamed the NNPC’s “disorganised financial structure” for the unconventional payment methods. She claimed the state-owned firm funded her hotels and chauffeurs to enable her to perform her duties. When questioned about a chauffeur allegedly delivering £100,000 in cash to her, she insisted she did not know of the transaction. Her defence rests on the premise that what looks like graft was actually a workaround for bureaucratic inefficiency.
Alison-Madueke also used her testimony to highlight her rise through the ranks at Shell, where she became the first female senior executive in Nigeria. She spoke candidly about her “uncomfortable” relationship with the multinational, citing its treatment of her father and its “apartheid practice” in West Africa. She further criticised Shell’s record on Niger Delta oil spills, claiming the company failed to remedy the environmental devastation it caused.
The trial touched on the personal risks she faced as a powerful woman in a “very patriarchal society.” She described constant security threats and noted that members of her family had been kidnapped during her time in office. This narrative of a beleaguered reformer contrasts sharply with the prosecution’s image of a minister living a life of illicit opulence.
The legal battle involves several other defendants, including her brother, Doye Agama, and oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde, both of whom deny bribery and conspiracy charges. Alison-Madueke herself faces five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy. The trial continues to scrutinise whether the millions spent on her London lifestyle were the fruits of corruption or, as she maintains, the messy reality of Nigerian statecraft.