Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources, has firmly rejected allegations that she accepted bribes during her time in office, telling a London court that she never abused her position for personal gain.
Alison-Madueke, who served between 2010 and 2015 under President Goodluck Jonathan, is facing five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Speaking to jurors, she insisted: “At no time did I ask, take, or seek a bribe of any sort from any of these persons. I always sought to act impartially in my role.”
Prosecutors allege that Alison-Madueke lived a “life of luxury” in London, pointing to high-end properties and lavish shopping trips provided by individuals who, they claim, believed she would use her influence to benefit them.
In her defence, Alison-Madueke explained that one of the properties in Gerrards Cross, west of London, was used for discreet meetings with the knowledge of the President.
She also said she arranged accommodation in central London through a company owned by Nigerian businessman Kolawole Aluko, arguing that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s London office was in disarray at the time and that all expenses were later reimbursed in Nigeria.
She further told the court that her position as a woman in a male-dominated political environment made her a target. Nigeria, she said, was “patriarchal and misogynistic,” and she believed she was being made a scapegoat for the administration.
Her trial is one of the most high-profile corruption cases linked to Nigeria’s oil sector, a sector long plagued by mismanagement and allegations of graft that have prevented the country’s vast mineral wealth from benefiting its wider population.