Nigeria: Ex-Oil Minister Charged With Bribery Offences In UK

A former Nigerian Oil Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been charged with bribery offences by the United Kingdom police.

She is suspected to have received bribes in return for awarding multi-million-pound oil and gas contracts during her tenure.

The 63-year-old woman served as Petroleum Minister from 2010 to 2015, under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

She also acted as president of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from 2014-2015.

“We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million-pound contracts,” said Andy Kelly, Head of the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) International Corruption Unit, as carried by Reuters.

“These charges are a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex international investigation.”

Alison-Madueke was arrested in London in October 2015, a few months after leaving office, and has also been the subject of investigations in Nigeria and the United States.

She has previously denied allegations of corruption.

Reuters reported that an attempt to speak to a London lawyer who was acting for her in 2015 to comment on the issue failed.

The NCA said she was currently living in St John’s Wood, an upmarket area of west London, and would appear at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court on October 2.

It said Alison-Madueke was accused of benefiting from at least 100,000 pounds ($127,000) in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, flights on private jets, luxury holidays for her family and the use of multiple London properties.

Charges against her also detail financial rewards including furniture, renovation work and staff for the properties, payment of private school fees and gifts from high-end designer shops such as Cartier jewellery and Louis Vuitton goods, the NCA said.

It added that assets worth millions of pounds relating to the alleged offences had been frozen and that it had provided evidence to the U.S. Department of Justice that enabled them to recover assets worth $53 million linked to Alison-Madueke.

Nigerian courts have also ordered the seizure of tens of millions of dollars worth of assets including properties, cars, large quantities of jewellery and a gold iPhone in a series of rulings in recent years.

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com