A former Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has denied allegations that she received bribes in the form of luxury accommodation and lavish spending during official visits to the United Kingdom.

Testifying on Monday at Southwark Crown Court, the 65-year-old told the court she had consistently resisted corruption throughout her public service, insisting she neither solicited nor accepted any form of bribe.

“I can state categorically that at no point did I ask for, take or receive a bribe of any sort… and did not abuse my office,” she said, adding that she always acted impartially in the discharge of her duties.

The prosecution alleges that several Nigerian businessmen funded expenses on her behalf, including more than £2 million spent at luxury retailer Harrods and approximately £4.6 million on refurbishing properties in London and Buckinghamshire.

Alison-Madueke, however, told the court that all services provided to her during official engagements were reimbursed by the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC). She explained that a logistics service company was established in London to manage travel, accommodation, and related arrangements due to inefficiencies in the NNPC’s financial systems at the time.

“They paid for all my hotels, chauffeurs… to allow me to perform the job that I did,” she said.

The court heard claims that the former minister had access to several high-value properties, including a £2.8 million home in Marylebone and residences overlooking Regent’s Park. Prosecutors also cited a stay at a property in Gerrards Cross during Christmas 2011, where Alison-Madueke and her family reportedly spent five days.

She denied involvement in arranging the stay, stating it was necessitated by her then-husband’s medical condition, which prevented travel back to Nigeria. A separate two-week visit, she said, involved a group of officials working on a publication highlighting the Nigerian president’s efforts on women’s empowerment.

Addressing allegations about other properties, she described one as being used for “discreet” official meetings, while another was allegedly under renovation and uninhabitable when she visited.

The court also heard that she and her mother stayed in apartments in St John’s Wood, with rent reportedly covered by Nigerian businessman Kolawole Aluko. Alison-Madueke said she had recommended the arrangement as a cost-saving measure compared to high-end hotels such as the Savoy and Dorchester.

She further denied knowledge of an alleged £100,000 cash delivery made by one of her chauffeurs, stating the money had no connection to her.

During her testimony, Alison-Madueke also recounted her professional background, including her rise within Shell, where she became the first female senior executive in its Nigerian operations. She spoke critically of the company’s handling of oil spills in the Niger Delta and its treatment of her father, a former employee who had taken legal action against the firm.

She also highlighted the security challenges she faced while in office, describing Nigeria as a “very patriarchal society” and noting that she had been under threats of kidnapping, with members of her family reportedly abducted.

In 2015, Alison-Madueke made history as the first female president of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

She is currently facing five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, all of which she denies.

Also on trial, oil industry executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, denies one count of bribery and another count of bribing a foreign public official.