The jury in the bribery trial of Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, began deliberations on Monday after nearly four months of proceedings at Southwark Crown Court.
Mrs Alison-Madueke, who served as petroleum minister between 2010 and 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
Prosecutors allege that the 65-year-old former minister lived what they described as a “life of luxury” in London, where she was allegedly provided with high-end properties to stay in and taken on luxury shopping trips by industry figures seeking favourable access to lucrative oil and gas contracts.
In her defence against some of the allegations, Mrs Alison-Madueke told the court that she had “tried to push back on corruption” in Nigeria, which she described as a longstanding challenge dating back to the colonial era.
Her lawyers also argued that she merely acted as a “rubber stamp” for official recommendations and did not personally solicit or receive bribes.
