Diezani Alison Madueke, the former minister of oil and gas for Nigeria, was accused by British police on Tuesday of accepting bribes in exchange for giving multimillion-pound contracts for oil and gas, according to Reuters.
As the petroleum minister from 2010 to 2015, Alison-Madueke, at sixty-three, was a vital member of the previous president Goodluck Jonathan’s team. In addition, she presided over the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as its president.
“We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million-pound contracts,” said Andy Kelly, Head of the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) International Corruption Unit.
“These charges are a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex international investigation.”
According to the NCA, Alison-Madueke was allegedly given access to several London properties, chauffeur-driven cars, private jet travel, luxury vacations for her family, and at least 100,000 pounds in cash.
Financial benefits, such as furniture, staffing for the houses’ renovations, payment for private school tuition, and presents from upscale stores selling Louis Vuitton and Cartier jewelry, are also detailed in the charges against her, according to the NCA.
Despite her denials, she has been plagued by accusations of corruption ever since leaving office.
She presently resides in the affluent west London neighborhood of St. John’s Wood, according to British police, and is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on October 2.
News About Nigeria recalls that the nation’s Financial Crimes Bureau EFCC in 2017 charged Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former minister of oil and gas in Nigeria with money laundering.
EFCC claimed that Ms Alison-Madueke—who is listed as “at large” on the charge sheet—was charged with buying off members of the general Electoral Commission (INEC) prior to the 2015 general election.
