British prosecutors have told a London court that Nigeria’s former oil minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, lived a lavish lifestyle funded by bribes while in office, as her long-running corruption trial opened on Tuesday.
Alison-Madueke, who later became the first female president of OPEC, faces multiple counts of bribery linked to the period between 2011 and 2015, when she served under former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan.
The 65-year-old has been on bail since her arrest in London in October 2015 and was formally charged in 2023.
According to prosecutors, Alison-Madueke received financial and other benefits from companies seeking lucrative oil and gas contracts with Nigeria’s state-owned petroleum corporation. The alleged bribes included tens of thousands of dollars in cash, chauffeur-driven vehicles, payment of her son’s school fees, and luxury goods from high-end retailers such as Harrods and Louis Vuitton.
She is accused of accepting “financial or other advantages” from individuals connected to the Atlantic Energy and SPOG Petrochemical groups.
Nigerian authorities have already seized several properties belonging to Alison-Madueke, valued at millions of dollars.
Two other defendants, including her brother, are also charged with bribery offences. All three had British addresses at the time of the alleged crimes and have denied all the charges.
