Just In : Former Nigerian Minister Appears In London Court Over Bribery Charges (DETAILS
Former Nigerian minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, made an appearance before the Westminster Magistrate Court in London on Monday to face alleged bribery charges.
Alison-Madueke, who served as Nigeria’s minister for petroleum resources from 2010 to 2015 during former president Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, is accused of receiving bribes in various forms, including cash, luxury items, private jet flights, and the use of high-end properties in Britain, in exchange for awarding oil contracts.
During her first court appearance at Westminster Magistrates Court, Alison-Madueke provided her name, date of birth, and address.
The charges against her pertain to events alleged to have occurred in London during her tenure as a minister.
Prosecutor Andy Young stated that she is alleged to have accepted a wide range of benefits in cash and kind from individuals seeking to obtain or continue receiving oil contracts, which he claimed were collectively valued at billions of dollars.
These benefits encompassed a delivery of £100,000 ($121,620) in cash, payment of private school fees for her son, and the use and renovation of several lavish properties in London and the English countryside.
They also included the use of a Range Rover vehicle, payment of bills for chauffeur-driven cars, furniture, and purchases from high-end London department store Harrods, as well as from Vincenzo Caffarella, a seller of Italian decorative arts and antiques.
In August, Alison-Madueke, along with two others, was charged with six bribery offenses. She has denied all allegations.
A resident of St John’s Wood, an affluent area in London, Alison-Madueke is the third prominent Nigerian politician to face prosecution in Britain in recent years. This follows James Ibori, a former Delta state governor convicted of fraud and money laundering in 2012, and former deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who was convicted and sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison by the Old Bailey Criminal Court for conspiring to harvest a man’s kidney for his ailing daughter, Sonia.
The trial is scheduled to commence on October 30th.
