Bribery Allegations: Diezani’s hearing moved to July

The Plea and Pre-trial Preparation ( PPTP ) hearing of former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke, has been postponed from its scheduled date of later this month to July, a Southwark Crown Court official told The Guardian last Friday.

Alison-Madueke, who was charged in August with bribery allegations by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA), was scheduled to appear with the other two defendants later this month.

But when The Guardian contacted the court on Friday, February 16, an official disclosed that the hearing has been moved to “July 3, 2024.”

When The Guardian told the official that the February date was mentioned on October 30, 2023, when the former Minister and her co-accused first appeared at the court, he insisted that the hearing would no longer take place this month.

Asked why? He said he doesn’t know. “All I can say is that the case management note says it’s been moved till then.”

Allison-Madueke, who’s presently on bail and confined to the UK, is accused of having benefited in both kind and cash during her tenure as minister under President Goodluck Jonathan. She was slammed with the charges after several years of investigations by the NCA and partner organisations.

Before dragging her before the Westminster Magistrate Court on October 2, last year, from where the case was subsequently transferred to Southwark, the NCA released a statement of intent.

According to it, the 63-year-old has been charged with bribery offences following a National Crime Agency investigation.

The statement said: “Alison-Madueke, who also served as president of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), was a key figure in the Nigerian government between 2010 and 2015.

“The NCA suspects she accepted bribes during her time as Minister for Petroleum Resources in exchange for awarding multi-million pound oil and gas 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 continued: “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.”

In the statement, Andy Kelly, Head of the NCA’s International Corruption Unit (ICU), said: “We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million pound contracts.”

These charges, the agency noted, “are a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex international investigation.”

Bribery, the statement further said, “is a pervasive form of corruption, which enables serious criminality and can have devastating consequences for developing countries.”

NCA noted also that, “assets worth millions of pounds relating to the alleged offences have already been frozen as part of the ongoing investigation.” It revealed that in March 2023, “the NCA also provided evidence to the US Department of Justice that enabled them to recover assets totalling USD$53.1m linked to Diezani Alison-Madueke’s alleged corruption.”

In the statement, the agency noted: “ICU officers did work closely with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of Nigeria during the investigation, as well as with the NCA-hosted International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre.”

NCA quoted Andrew Penhale, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the CPS, in the statement, who said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised the NCA to charge Diezani Alison-Madueke with bribery offences.”

The CPS, Penhale disclosed, “made the decision to authorise the charge after reviewing a file of evidence from the NCA relating to allegations of bribery in Nigeria.”