Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former Nigerian minister of petroleum resources and the most recent president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), will appear in court in London on Monday as her much anticipated corruption trial officially gets underway.
This week will see the start of the trial’s preliminary phase, which will include jury selection and technical concerns. This will be the first courtroom action in a case that has lasted for almost ten years.
Prior to the whole trial, which is anticipated to hear a substantial amount of evidence, Diezani Alison-Madueke was physically present in court last week when the proceedings began.
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The 65-year-old former minister is accused of six charges of bribery related to her tenure as Nigeria’s petroleum minister from 2010 to 2015 during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. She has entered a not guilty plea to every accusation.
Diezani holds a unique place in Nigeria’s political history, having been the country’s first female petroleum minister and the first woman to serve as president of OPEC.
However, after leaving government in 2015, she has been plagued by numerous accusations of corruption, both domestically and abroad.
In October 2015, she was initially detained by British officials in London as part of a significant corruption probe.
Due to the scope of the matter and the seniority of the parties involved, Alison-Madueke has remained on bail while investigations are ongoing.
Diezani Alison-Madueke was formally charged in 2023 by the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom. She was accused of collecting bribes during a four-year period between 2011 and 2015, during which she had considerable influence over Nigeria’s oil industry, which is among the most profitable in Africa.
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The trial is scheduled to last between 10 and 12 weeks, during which the court is expected to hear testimony from multiple witnesses and examine financial records, property transactions, and other evidence linked to the alleged bribery scheme.
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