Nigeria: Diezani Alison-Madueke denies bribery charges in UK court, says she ‘pushed back on corruption’

By Zuleihat Owuiye, Mamos Nigeria

Former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke told a London court on Monday that she never took bribes while in office, saying costs incurred during official duties were later reimbursed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company.

Diezani Alison-Madueke, 65, is standing trial at Southwark Crown Court over allegations that she benefited from proceeds of corruption in the UK in exchange for awarding government contracts. She denies five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

Testifying on Monday, Alison-Madueke said she “tried to push back on corruption” in Nigeria, a country she noted has struggled with the problem since the colonial era, BBC reports.

Prosecutors allege that several Nigerian businessmen funded extensive spending, including more than £2 million at luxury store Harrods and £4.6 million on refurbishing homes in London and Buckinghamshire.

Alison-Madueke told the court she did not solicit or receive bribes and did not abuse her office. “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 said. “I always sought to act impartially.”

She explained that money spent on her behalf during official trips was repaid by the state-owned NNPC. A service company was set up in London to handle logistics because the NNPC’s financial structure was in disarray, she said. “They paid for all my hotels, chauffeurs… to allow me to perform the job that I did.”

Addressing one allegation, she said she was unaware at the time that a chauffeur had delivered £100,000 in cash to her and maintained the money had nothing to do with her.

The court heard that Alison-Madueke rose quickly at Shell, becoming the first senior female executive in its Nigerian operation. She said she initially did not want to work for the multinational because of its treatment of her father, a tribal leader and former senior employee who had unsuccessfully sued Shell “for apartheid practice in West Africa.”

“I found the job uncomfortable to put in mildly,” she said, noting that Shell was facing major issues with oil spills in the Niger Delta, her family’s region. She said she did not believe the company had done enough “to make good on the devastation that they had caused.”

On security concerns while in office, she said Nigeria was a “very patriarchal society” and that having a “woman sitting at the helm was a major no no.” She told the court she faced “dire threats of kidnap” and that members of her family had been seized.

Also on trial is oil industry executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, who denies one count of bribery and another count of bribing a foreign public official. Alison-Madueke’s brother, former archbishop Doye Agama, 69, denies conspiracy to commit bribery.