In a dramatic turn at Southwark Crown Court, the defense team for former Nigerian Oil Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke presented a comprehensive rebuttal against corruption allegations that have spanned nearly a decade. Jonathan Laidlaw KC, representing Alison-Madueke, articulated that the substantial expenditures on UK properties and luxury items attributed to her were fully reimbursed through legitimate channels in Nigeria.
The court heard how Nigeria’s banking regulations prohibit ministers from maintaining overseas accounts, creating circumstances where third parties necessarily facilitated transactions that were subsequently settled domestically. Laidlaw emphasized: “Those who paid the bills were paid back, in Nigeria. She did not request or receive any financial advantage from these individuals.”
Alison-Madueke, who served as Nigeria’s petroleum resources minister from 2010 to 2015—a position described as second only to the presidency in ministerial hierarchy—faces five counts of bribery acceptance and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. The defense highlighted significant procedural concerns, including an eight-year gap between her 2015 arrest during cancer treatment in London and the 2023 formal charges.
The defense argued this delay has fundamentally compromised the trial’s fairness, noting that critical financial records in Abuja have disappeared and that the businessmen allegedly involved in the purported bribery scheme remain at liberty worldwide without facing extradition attempts. “Through no fault of her own,” Laidlaw stated, “she doesn’t have available to her the material that supports her defense.”
Co-defendants include oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde, who denies separate bribery charges, and Alison-Madueke’s brother, former bishop Doye Agama, who contests conspiracy allegations. The trial continues as the court examines one of Nigeria’s most high-profile corruption cases.