Lawyers to a former Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources and ex-President of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Diezani Alison-Madueke, have denied in a London court that she took bribes, in their first formal response to the corruption charges brought against her.
According to Daily Mail UK, Alison-Madueke’s defence team made the submission on Thursday at Southwark Crown Court, where the 65-year-old sat in the dock taking notes on the third day of her trial.
She is facing multiple counts of bribery following a years-long investigation by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA), which targets international and serious organised crime.
The alleged offences are said to have occurred between 2011 and 2015, when Alison-Madueke served as Nigeria’s oil minister, while maintaining a UK address. The NCA has accused her of receiving bribes in Britain.
Prosecutors earlier told the court that Alison-Madueke lived a “life of luxury” allegedly funded by individuals seeking lucrative oil and gas contracts with Nigeria’s state-owned petroleum corporation.
However, her defence lawyer, Jonathan Laidlaw, told the jury that “a great deal of material which would have established her innocence, has been denied to her” because of what he described as the “gross delay in the bringing of these charges”.
“She has been denied the opportunity to travel back to her home in Nigeria to prepare her defence,” he told the 12 jurors, noting that British police have retained her passport since she was first arrested 11 years ago.
Laidlaw further stated that “Nigerian ministers are forbidden from having bank accounts abroad”.
He added that papers kept at her home in Nigeria or held by officials “would have demonstrated that where individuals provided her with accommodation in this country or paid for purchases… reimbursement was made from Nigeria”.
But the defence lawyer said that more than a decade later “those records have disappeared” and “the fact is that material critical to her defence is now no longer available to her”.
Alison-Madueke is accused of accepting “financial or other advantages” from individuals linked to the Atlantic Energy and SPOG Petrochemical groups.
Both companies allegedly secured contracts with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) or its subsidiaries.
Prosecutors also claim the former minister received £100,000 ($137,000) in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, a private jet flight to Nigeria, as well as refurbishment work and staff costs at several London properties.
Other counts allege she received school fees for her son, luxury goods from high-end stores such as Harrods and Louis Vuitton, and additional private jet flights.
Alison-Madueke, who served as OPEC president between 2014 and 2015, has been involved in several legal cases across different jurisdictions, including the United States.
She has been on bail in Britain since her arrest in October 2015 and was formally charged in 2023 with accepting bribes, allegations she has denied.
Two other defendants — her brother, Doye Agama, and Olatimbo Ayinde — are also facing bribery charges linked to the case. All three defendants had British addresses at the time of the alleged offences, according to the prosecution.
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