Ken Okeke
Nigeria’s former Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke has told Judge Michael Snow of Southwark Crown Court, London, that she never misused her position or solicited bribes during her tenure as Minister.
Mrs Alison-Madueke, who is facing a five-count charge of accepting bribes and one of conspiracy to commit bribery, opened her defence against the allegations on Monday.
The 65-year-old former Minister, in her testimony, stated that she had tried to push back against corruption in Nigeria and that any benefits she received were either reimbursed or significantly misrepresented by investigators.
Prosecutors had alleged that some Nigerian businessmen financed her lavish lifestyle, including spending over £2 million at Harrods and £4.6 million on properties in London and Buckinghamshire.
However, she explained that the costs for services provided during her official duties were covered by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), which set up a London-based service firm to manage logistics due to NNPC’s financial issues.
“They paid for my hotels, chauffeurs… to enable me to perform my role,” she added.
The former minister testified that she had little authority over oil contracts, describing her role mainly as ceremonial
“The minister is just a rubber stamp,” she stated, clarifying that committees and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) made the decisions, with her approval being a formal step.
She acknowledged using properties in London and accepting travel paid for by associates, including private flights, but insisted these expenses were reimbursed through official channels or managed as logistical support outside her personal control.
Alison-Madueke further denied any knowledge of a reported £100,000 cash delivery to her London home, claiming she only learned of it during trial disclosures.
She also defended her actions on cultural grounds, noting that support and gift-giving from associates are common in Nigeria’s political and social systems, and suggested that weak financial controls at the NNPC’s London office led to the use of third-party arrangements.
Previously, court testimony detailed how Alison-Madueke and her mother stayed in two apartments in St John’s Wood, paid for by Nigerian businessman Kolawole Aluko, who is not on trial.
Alison-Madueke explained that this option was more economical than staying in luxury hotels such as the Savoy or the Dorchester.
She admitted that at the time, she was unaware that her chauffeur delivered £100,000 in cash to her, which she stated had no connection to her.
The court heard she advanced rapidly at Shell, becoming the first senior female executive in its Nigerian operations, despite her initial reluctance due to Shell’s treatment of her father, a former senior employee.
She recounted her father’s unsuccessful legal action against Shell over alleged apartheid practices in West Africa.
She also discussed Shell’s challenges with oil spills in the Niger Delta, criticising the company’s efforts to address the environmental damage caused.
Regarding her security, she described Nigeria as a “very patriarchal society,” where her position as a woman was unacceptable, and she faced threats of kidnapping, including family members being seized.
The case of the prosecutor, Alexandra Healy, is based on allegations that Alison-Madueke had access to a “grand” home in Buckinghamshire, a £2.8 million house in Marylebone, and other multi-million-pound properties near Regent’s Park, allegedly benefiting from renovations worth £4.6 million.
She led evidence to the effect that the defendant and her extended family stayed five days in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, over Christmas 2011, due to her ex-husband’s hospital treatment, with Alison-Madueke claiming she was not involved in making those arrangements.
In 2015, Alison-Madueke was elected the first female head of OPEC, the oil-exporting countries’ group that decides on global crude oil sales.
She denies all five counts of accepting bribes and the conspiracy charge.
Oil industry executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, also on trial, denies bribery charges, as does her brother, former Archbishop Doye Agama, 69, who faces conspiracy allegations.
The trial continues on Tuesday.