A Nigerian former oil minister enjoyed a “life of luxury” in the UK including chauffeur-driven cars and a personal shopper at Harrods thanks to bribes she received from oil tycoons while she was a minister in Nigeria’s government, a London court has heard this week.
Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former president of OPEC went on trial on Tuesday in a high-profile UK corruption case. She is accused of receiving flights on private jets, “vast quantities” of upmarket goods and the use of properties in affluent London neighbourhoods.
Prosecutors claim oil executives funnelled bribes to Alison-Madueke when she was oil minister between 2010 and 2015 in the hope of securing lucrative deals with the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
Jurors were told that on one occasion in November 2013 the then-minister embarked on a “particularly extravagant and expensive” spree at the department store Harrods, where a wealthy Nigerian oil executive paid for a personal shopping service.
The 65-year-old, who is charged with five counts of accepting a bribe and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, appeared in the dock at Southwark Crown Court beside Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, an oil industry executive charged with two counts of bribery.
Alison-Madueke’s brother Doye Agama, 69, a former archbishop, is also accused in the case of conspiracy to commit bribery. He appeared by video link. All the defendants deny the charges.
The case is the biggest corruption trial involving a Nigerian in the UK since James Ibori, former governor of Delta state, was handed a 13-year sentence in 2012 after pleading guilty to money laundering.
Jurors were told that Alison-Madueke, a prominent member of former president Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, was provided with a housekeeper, nanny and a gardener while in the UK, as well as chauffeur-driven cars.
Alexandra Healy KC, for the prosecution, said “those who benefited from oil contracts ensured that Alison-Madueke enjoyed a life of luxury”.
While the barrister said there was no evidence that contracts were awarded to unqualified companies, she claimed it was “improper” for Alison-Madueke to have accepted the benefits from executives who stood to benefit.
“Those who were prepared to spend these sums of money benefiting her clearly believed she would use her influence to favour them,” Healy said.
Jurors on Tuesday were shown pictures of a Buckinghamshire property, purchased in 2011 for £3.25mn, featuring a cinema room. Prosecutors said that Alison-Madueke had enjoyed exclusive use of the property a handful of times, once staying for weeks while she was writing a book about the Nigerian president.
Multi-million-pound refurbishment works were carried out for her, including at another property near Regent’s Park in central London where a lift was installed to facilitate access for her mother,
Healy said. Alison-Madueke, who was elected president of the Opec producers’ cartel in 2014 — making her the first woman to hold the role — is also alleged to have received payments for private school fees for her son. Setting out why the case was being heard in London, Healy said: “It is entirely appropriate to address conduct that has taken place in this country in its courts.”
The case continues.