Ex-Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke to Appear in UK Court for Bribery
The United Kingdom National Crime Agency (NCA) says Former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been charged with bribery offences relating to her time as Nigeria’s oil minister.
In a statement today, the head of the NCA’s international corruption unit, Andy Kelly, said the agency suspects Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million-pound contracts.
According to him, Alison-Madueke allegedly benefited from at least £100,000 in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, flights on private jets, luxury holidays for her family, and the use of multiple London properties.
The charges also detail financial rewards including furniture, renovation work and staff for the properties, payment of private school fees, and gifts from top designer shops such as Cartier jewellery and Louis Vuitton goods.
the NCA also confirmed that the former petroleum minister will appear in court in the British capital on October 2, which her family’s lawyer have promised to contest.
Alison-Madueke, in office from 2010 to 2015, was the first woman to be oil minister in Nigeria and the first female president of the global oil cartel OPEC.
