Former Nigerian Minister in trouble again, charged for bribery offence in UK

Former Nigerian Minister of Petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been charged by the UK government over bribery allegations

The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said they suspected Alison-Madueke had accepted bribes worth £100,000 in return for awarding multi-million-pound oil and gas contracts.

In a statement posted on its website on Tuesday, NCA said Alison-Madueke will appear at Westminster magistrates court on October 2, for the case

The statement partly reads, “We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million-pound contracts,”

“She is alleged to have benefitted from at least £100,000 in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, flights on private jets, luxury holidays for her family, and the use of multiple London properties,” the statement reads.

“Her charges also detail financial rewards including furniture, renovation work and staff for the properties, payment of private school fees, and gifts from high-end designer shops such as Cartier jewellery and Louis Vuitton goods.”

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Head of the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) International Corruption Unit, Andy Kelly, said the “charges are a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex international investigation.”

The 63-year-old, was a key figure in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The embattled former minister has been enmeshed in different corruption cases both in Nigeria and abroad.

In October 2015, Diezani and four other persons were arrested in the UK over alleged bribery and money laundering offences.

A magistrate court in the UK granted Diezani bail but her passport was seized while she was asked to report at the Charing Cross police station.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alleged that the former minister stole $2.5 billion from the Nigerian government while she was a minister.

Properties said to belong to the former minister, located in Banana Island Foreshore Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, including 18 flats and six penthouses, where also forfeited to the federal government.

In 2017, the US government filed a suit to recover $144 million in assets that were purportedly acquired with proceeds from a shady scheme in Nigeria’s oil industry.