FORMER Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has denied allegations of bribery, telling a United Kingdom court that she neither solicited nor received illicit payments, insisting that expenses incurred during her time in office were official and reimbursed by the Nigerian government.
News Point Nigeria reports that testifying on Monday at Southwark Crown Court in London, Alison-Madueke maintained that payments made on her behalf in the United Kingdom were tied strictly to her official responsibilities and not for personal benefit.
“I can state categorically that at no point did I ask for, take or receive a bribe of any sort from these persons and did not abuse my office,” she told the court, adding, “I always sought to act impartially.”
According to a report by the BBC, prosecutors alleged that Nigerian businessmen funded a series of luxury expenses for the former minister. These reportedly included more than £2 million spent at Harrods and about £4.6 million used to refurbish properties in London and Buckinghamshire.
The prosecution also claimed she had access to several high-end homes, including properties in Marylebone and multi-million-pound residences overlooking Regent’s Park.
However, Alison-Madueke rejected the allegations, telling the court that such arrangements were part of official logistics tied to her duties in office.
She explained that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) reimbursed the costs, adding that a London-based service company had been established to manage travel and accommodation due to inefficiencies within the organisation.
“They paid for all my hotels, chauffeurs… to allow me to perform the job that I did,” she said.
The court also heard that Alison-Madueke spent five days at a property in Gerrards Cross during Christmas in 2011 with her family because her ex-husband required medical care and could not return to Nigeria.
She further described a separate two-week stay at the same location, during which she said she worked with a group of officials on a book highlighting the Nigerian president’s support for women.
“I took it upon myself to put together that book to showcase what he did for women,” she told the court.
Responding to claims about other properties, Alison-Madueke said one residence near Regent’s Park was used for “discrete” official meetings, while another property linked to her was “completely gutted” and unusable when she first saw it.
The court also heard that she and her mother stayed in apartments in St John’s Wood, with rent allegedly paid by Nigerian businessman Kolawole Aluko.
She defended the arrangement, saying it was more cost-effective than staying in luxury hotels such as Savoy Hotel and The Dorchester, which she said cost about £2,000 per night.
Alison-Madueke also denied any knowledge of a reported £100,000 cash delivery allegedly made by one of her chauffeurs, telling the court that the money had “nothing to do with” her.
She went on to describe the pressures she faced while in office, characterising Nigeria as a “very patriarchal society” and revealing that she lived under “dire threats of kidnap,” with some of her family members abducted.
The former minister, who became the first female president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in 2015, is facing five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, all of which she has denied.
Alison-Madueke is standing trial alongside Olatimbo Ayinde and Doye Agama, her brother, on a five-count charge bordering on accepting bribes. All defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges.