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The corruption trial of Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources and the first woman to serve as President of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is set to commence in London on Monday, January 26.
Alison-Madueke, 65, is facing five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, relating to her time as Nigeria’s oil minister between 2010 and 2015 under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Prosecutors allege that between 2011 and 2015, she received financial and other benefits from individuals connected to two energy companies. These alleged benefits include the use of multiple London properties, refurbishment and staffing costs at those properties, furniture, chauffeur-driven vehicles, a private jet flight to Nigeria, and £100,000 in cash.
Additional charges claim that the former minister also received further inducements, including the payment of her son’s school fees, luxury items from high-end retailers such as Harrods and Louis Vuitton, as well as several private jet flights.
According to the indictment, prosecutors argue that accepting these benefits amounted to the improper performance of her official duties as Nigeria’s oil minister.
Alison-Madueke appeared in a London court last week for preliminary proceedings, including jury selection and other technical matters, ahead of the trial, which is expected to last between 10 and 12 weeks.
Two other defendants, Doye Agama and Olatimbo Ayinde, are also standing trial on bribery-related charges connected to the case.
The former minister has been on bail since her arrest in London in October 2015 and has consistently denied all allegations against her. In 2023, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) formally charged her with offences related to the alleged acceptance of bribes.
At the time, the NCA stated that it suspected Alison-Madueke had abused her position in Nigeria by accepting financial rewards in exchange for awarding multi-million-pound contracts. Earlier in 2023, the agency also disclosed that it had shared evidence with US prosecutors, leading to the recovery of assets valued at $53.1 million. These assets reportedly included luxury properties in California and New York, as well as a 65-metre superyacht, Galactica Star.
Born in 1960 into a well-established family in Port Harcourt, an oil-producing city in southern Nigeria, Alison-Madueke studied architecture in the United Kingdom and the United States before beginning her career with the Nigerian subsidiary of oil giant Shell.
She later transitioned into politics, serving as Minister of Transport in 2007 under the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, and subsequently as Minister of Mines and Steel Development. In April 2010, following Yar’Adua’s death, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed her Minister of Petroleum Resources. In 2014, she made history as OPEC’s first female president, a role she held for approximately one year.
