KEY POINTS
- Diezani Alison-Madueke opened her defense and denied all six UK Bribery Act charges.
- Prosecutors allege businessmen spent millions on luxury properties and shopping trips on her behalf.
- The trial also involves oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde and her brother Doye Agama.
Diezani Alison-Madueke took the stand at Southwark Crown Court on Monday. She told a London jury she never solicited or accepted a single bribe.
The 65-year-old former Nigerian petroleum minister opened her defense Monday. It is one of the most significant UK corruption trials involving a senior African official in years. She faces five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery under the UK Bribery Act. After weeks of prosecution testimony, it was finally her turn.
“I did not abuse my office at all. I did not ask, seek or solicit bribes,” she told the court under questioning by her counsel, Jonathan Laidlaw KC. She added: “I can state categorically that at no point did I ask for, take or receive a bribe of any sort from these persons and did not abuse my office. I always sought to act impartially.”
Alison-Madueke served as petroleum minister under President Goodluck Jonathan from 2010 to 2015. She oversaw Nigeria’s oil sector during some of its most lucrative years. The trial opened in January 2026. The National Crime Agency arrested her in London more than a decade ago. She had been detained following the fall of the Jonathan administration.
What the prosecution alleges
The case centers on alleged luxury benefits Nigerian oil businessmen provided while she was in office. Prosecutors say those men spent more than £2 million at Harrods on her behalf. They also put £4.6 million toward refurbishing properties in London and Buckinghamshire she used. Private jets, a chauffeur-driven car and £100,000 in cash allegedly delivered to her London home are also part of the prosecution’s account.
On the cash, she told the court she had no knowledge of it. She learned of the claim only during trial disclosures.
Her defense
Alison-Madueke pushed back on several fronts. She described her ministerial role as largely ceremonial. Real contract decisions, she said, were made by committees and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. “The minister is just a rubber stamp,” she told the court.
She admitted to using London properties and accepting travel paid by associates, including private flights. Those costs, she maintained, were reimbursed through official channels. She pointed to weak financial controls in the NNPC’s London office and argued that hospitality from associates is culturally common within Nigeria’s political environment.
Two co-defendants are also on trial. Oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, denies bribery charges. Her brother Doye Agama, 69, a former archbishop, denies conspiracy to commit bribery. The trial continues.
