A London court has heard that more than £2 million was allegedly spent at luxury department store Harrods on behalf of a former Nigerian oil minister accused of receiving bribes from individuals seeking government contracts.
Diezani Alison-Madueke, 65, is accused of maintaining an extravagant lifestyle in the United Kingdom, which prosecutors say included a multimillion-pound home, chauffeured services, private jet travel and large sums of cash. The Southwark Crown Court was told that she also allegedly benefited from £4.6 million used to renovate properties in London and Buckinghamshire.
Alison-Madueke, who served as Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources between 2010 and 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan, has denied five counts of accepting bribes and one charge of conspiracy to commit bribery.
Jurors were informed that more than £2 million was allegedly spent on Alison-Madueke at Harrods using payment cards belonging to Nigerian businessman Kolawole Aluko and his company, Tenka Limited. The court heard that she reportedly had access to a personal shopper service reserved for Harrods’ Black Tier Rewards members, who typically spend over £10,000 annually.
Prosecutors further alleged that Alison-Madueke lived intermittently in the UK, where she was provided with household staff including a housekeeper, nanny, gardener and window cleaner. The court was told that energy company owners with lucrative contracts from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) covered the salaries and running costs.
“This case concerns bribery linked to Nigeria’s oil and gas sector between 2011 and 2015,” prosecutor Alexandra Healy KC told the court. She said business figures seeking to secure or retain oil and gas contracts allegedly provided substantial financial and other benefits to Alison-Madueke.
Healy acknowledged that the case might appear unusual being tried in the UK but stressed that corruption has global consequences and that there is a strong public interest in preventing one country’s systems from enabling corruption in another.
Jurors were shown images of a property known as The Falls in Gerrard’s Cross, Buckinghamshire, purchased in 2010 by Nigerian businessman Olajide Omokore of Atlantic Energy. The court heard that Alison-Madueke used the property from late 2011, staying there several times and spending weeks writing a book about Nigeria’s president.
It was alleged that Tenka Limited funded the £300,000 refurbishment of the property, as well as rent payments totaling £500,000 for two central London apartments occupied by Alison-Madueke and her mother between 2011 and 2014.
Alison-Madueke appeared in court alongside oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, who faces a bribery charge linked to her and a separate count of bribing a foreign public official. Her brother, former archbishop Doye Agama, 69, is also standing trial on a charge of conspiracy to bribe and joined proceedings via video link due to health reasons. Both men have denied the allegations.
The trial, expected to last about 12 weeks, is ongoing. Nigeria, a major oil-producing nation and member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), continues to grapple with concerns that vast oil revenues have failed to translate into widespread public benefit.
