How Diezani Alison-Madueke's ‘lavish’ UK life was funded by Nigerian oil contractors

Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, spent over £2 million at Harrods, a luxury store in London, buying high-end accessories with money gotten from a government contractor, a prosecutor told a UK court on Tuesday.

The accessories were purchased with a payment card owned by a Nigerian businessman, Kolawole Aluko. Some purchases were also made with his company’s debit card, Tenka Limited.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that the case prosecutor, Alexandra Healy, told jurors at Southwark Crown Court that Mrs Alison-Madueke “lived a lavish lifestyle in London.”

He declared that she was staying there at the expense of individuals seeking to secure or keep contracts with Nigerian state-owned companies.

He also told the court that she received high-end properties and vast quantities of luxury goods from people who “clearly believed she would use her influence to favour them.”

The former minister is currently facing trial over allegations of corruption, having been charged in 2023 with five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

According to the UK authorities, the charges are linked to the awarding of oil and gas contracts during her time in office as petroleum minister.

Mrs Alison-Madueke had served as Nigeria’s oil minister from 2010 to 2015 and later chaired the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 2014–2015.

She fled to London after the Peoples Democratic Party lost the 2015 presidential election.

She also faces several corruption charges in Nigeria, many of which had to be halted due to her absence, and has forfeited properties worth billions of naira to Nigerian authorities based on court rulings.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that her UK trial started Monday at Southwark Crown Court in London.

The trial is expected to run for several weeks and could carry significant penalties if she is convicted. Under the UK Bribery Act, she can face up to 10 years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.

The London proceedings are also unfolding alongside broader asset-recovery efforts tied to allegations of corruption in Nigeria’s oil sector.

The prosecutor told the court that from late 2011, Mrs Alison-Madueke had sole access to a UK house, which featured a cinema room.

The Jurors were presented with photographs showing the inside of the property, which is The Falls in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire.

She reportedly stayed there on three or four occasions over two years and later spent six weeks at the property working on a book about Nigeria’s president.

She was provided with a housekeeper, nanny, gardener and window cleaner. The salaries of the domestic employees were paid for by the owners of energy companies who had lucrative contracts with the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

“This case is about bribery in relation to the oil and gas industry in Nigeria during the period 2011 to 2015,” Mr Healy said.

“During that time those who were interested in the award and retention of lucrative oil and gas contracts with the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation or its subsidiaries the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company and the Pipelines Product Marketing Company, provided significant financial or other advantages to Alison-Madueke.”

The refurbishment of the house, worth £300,000, was also paid for by Tenka Limited. The prosecutors also told the court that Mrs Alison-Madueke had contracts with state-owned companies that were seeking new oil deals.

The court heard that between May 2011 and January 2014, £500,000 was paid in rent for two flats in a central London building where Mrs Alison-Madueke lived with her mother.