The corruption trial of Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources and the first woman to serve as president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is scheduled to begin in London on Monday.
Alison-Madueke, 65, is facing five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, linked to her tenure as oil minister between 2010 and 2015 under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Prosecutors allege that between 2011 and 2015, she accepted “financial or other advantages” from individuals connected to two energy companies in exchange for the improper performance of her official duties.
The alleged benefits include the use of, refurbishment work on and staff costs for several London properties, furniture, chauffeur-driven vehicles, a private jet flight to Nigeria and £100,000 ($137,000) in cash.
Further charges claim she received additional inducements such as school fees for her son, luxury items from high-end retailers including Harrods and Louis Vuitton, as well as more private jet flights.
According to the indictment, the acceptance of these benefits amounted to “improper performance” of her responsibilities as petroleum minister.
Alison-Madueke appeared before a London court last week for preliminary proceedings, including jury selection and technical hearings, ahead of the full trial, which is expected to last between 10 and 12 weeks.
Two other defendants, Doye Agama and Olatimbo Ayinde, are also facing bribery charges linked 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, she was formally charged with the offences, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
“We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million-pound contracts,” the NCA said at the time.
Earlier in 2023, the agency disclosed that it had provided evidence to US prosecutors, enabling the recovery of assets worth $53.1 million allegedly linked to Alison-Madueke’s corruption. The assets included luxury properties in California and New York, as well as a 65-metre (213-foot) superyacht, Galactica Star, according to a March 27 announcement by the US Department of Justice.
Born in 1960 to a wealthy family in the oil-rich city of Port Harcourt, Alison-Madueke studied architecture in the United Kingdom and the United States before beginning her career with Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary.
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