Former Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, appeared before a United Kingdom court on Monday as her long-awaited bribery trial formally opened in London.
The proceedings commenced at Southwark Crown Court, where UK prosecutors described the case as a key phase in an extensive international corruption investigation. The first substantive hearing is expected to take place on Tuesday.
Alison-Madueke, who served as Nigeria’s oil minister between 2010 and 2015 and was OPEC president from 2014 to 2015, is facing six criminal counts. The charges include five counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, all linked to the allocation of oil and gas contracts during her tenure.
British authorities allege that she accepted at least £100,000 in cash, alongside other benefits described as financial or material advantages. These allegedly included private jet flights, chauffeur-driven vehicles, luxury goods, the use and maintenance of London properties, and payment of her son’s school fees.
The UK National Crime Agency, which authorised the charges in 2023, claims Alison-Madueke abused her position to influence the award of multi-million-pound contracts. She has denied all allegations and has remained on bail in the UK since 2023, having attended earlier court sessions this month during jury selection.
If convicted, she could face up to 10 years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both under the UK Bribery Act. The trial is expected to last several weeks.
The case runs alongside wider asset recovery efforts connected to alleged corruption in Nigeria’s oil sector. In 2025, Nigeria and the United States agreed to repatriate about $52.88 million in forfeited assets linked to investigations involving Alison-Madueke and her associates.
UK authorities formally charged the former minister in August 2023, following earlier reports by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). In Nigeria, she has also faced separate money-laundering charges filed in 2017, related to alleged payments made to influence election officials ahead of the 2015 general election.
US authorities previously recovered more than $53 million in oil proceeds allegedly tied to corruption, with additional funds still under review at the time.
