By Desire Emmanuel with Agency Reports
The jury in the bribery trial of Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former oil minister, on Monday, May 18, began their deliberations after nearly four months at London’s Southwark Crown Court, 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 one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
Prosecutors allege Alison-Madueke led a ‘life of luxury’ in London, being given high-end properties to stay in and taken on luxury shopping sprees by industry figures interested in lucrative oil and gas contracts.
But lawyers for the former minister, who was also briefly president of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), argued that Alison-Madueke was merely a “rubber stamp” for official recommendations.
“At no time did I ask, take, or seek a bribe or bribes of any sort,” Alison-Madueke told the jury when she gave evidence last month.
Alison-Madueke stood trial alongside oil industry executive, Olatimbo Ayinde, who is charged with one count of bribery relating to Alison-Madueke and a separate count of bribery of a foreign public official.
Alison-Madueke’s brother, 69-year-old Doye Agama, is charged with conspiracy to commit bribery relating to Agama’s church. They both deny the charges.
After a trial which began in late January, the jury was set out just before 12:30 p.m. (Nigerian time) on Monday to consider their verdicts on the eight charges the three defendants face.
