Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former oil minister and the first woman to serve as president of OPEC, is accused of living a “life of luxury” funded by bribes while in office, British prosecutors told a London court on Tuesday.
The 65-year-old appeared at Southwark Crown Court as her trial began, facing multiple bribery charges linked to her tenure as Nigeria’s minister of petroleum resources from 2011 to 2015 under then-President Goodluck Jonathan.
Prosecutors allege that individuals seeking lucrative oil and gas contracts with Nigeria’s state-owned petroleum corporation offered Alison-Madueke “significant financial or other advantages,” which she should not have accepted.
Among the alleged benefits were £100,000 in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, private jet flights, and renovations and staff costs at several London properties. She is also accused of receiving luxury goods, school fees for her son, and high-end items from stores such as Harrods and Louis Vuitton.
The alleged bribes are tied to companies including Atlantic Energy and SPOG Petrochemical, which secured contracts with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) or its subsidiaries.
Alison-Madueke, who led OPEC for a year between 2014 and 2015, has faced legal scrutiny in multiple countries, including the United States. In Nigeria, several of her properties, valued at millions of dollars, were seized in 2017.
A spokesperson for Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) confirmed that cases against her remain active. She has been on bail in the UK since her arrest in London in October 2015 and has denied all charges.
In 2023, she was formally charged with accepting bribes. The UK’s National Crime Agency stated at the time: “We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million-pound contracts.”
Two others — her brother, Doye Agama, and Olatimbo Ayinde — are also facing bribery charges linked to the case. All three defendants had UK addresses at the time of the alleged offences.
Judge Justine Thornton said she hopes the trial will conclude by April 24.
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