By Desire Emmanuel with Agency Reports
Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former oil minister, told jurors on Monday, April 13, she did not abuse her position to seek or take bribes, as she stands trial on corruption charges in London, Reuters News Agency reported.
Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s minister for petroleum resources between 2010 and 2015 under then-President Goodluck Jonathan, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of accepting bribes and a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery.
“At no time did I ask, take, or seek a bribe or bribes of any sort, from any of these persons,” Alison-Madueke said, referring to people named in the charges, adding that she “always sought to act impartially” in her post.
Prosecutors say Alison-Madueke led a “life of luxury” in London, which included being given high-end properties to stay in and taken on luxury shopping sprees by people who “clearly believed she would use her influence to favour them.”
Alison-Madueke told jurors that the former President Jonathan knew of her using one of the properties, a high-end location in Gerrards Cross, west of London, for discreet meetings.
She said that being a woman in such an important role made her a target, describing Nigeria as patriarchal and misogynistic, and that she was told she would be made a scapegoat of the administration.
She also said she organised accommodation at a central London apartment through a company owned by Nigerian businessman, Kolawole Aluko, because the financial structures of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC)’s London office were “in a mess,” and that all expenses were repaid in Nigeria.
Her trial is one of the most high-profile cases relating to alleged corruption in oil-rich Nigeria, which has long grappled with mismanagement and corruption preventing its mineral wealth from benefiting the wider population.
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