Former Nigerian Minister Denies Bribery in London Trial

Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria's former minister of petroleum resources, testified on Monday at Southwark Crown Court in London, denying allegations that she accepted bribes from energy firms in exchange for favorable government contracts during her tenure from 2010 to 2015. The 65-year-old, who faces five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery under the UK Bribery Act, insisted she acted impartially and never abused her office.

Prosecutors allege that Alison-Madueke received lavish benefits, including access to multimillion-pound properties in London and Buckinghamshire, private jet travel, chauffeur-driven cars, and luxury shopping sprees totaling over 2 million pounds at Harrods department store. They also claim she benefited from 4.6 million pounds in property refurbishments and received 100,000 pounds in cash delivered by a chauffeur in 2012. These perks, according to the prosecution, were provided by Nigerian businessmen such as Kola Aluko, Benedict Peters, Igho Sanomi, and Kevin Okyere, who sought advantages in oil sector contracts overseen by the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).