Two prominent oil executives have denied paying bribes to former Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, according to statements read before Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday.
Kevin Okyere, a Ghanaian businessman, and Igho Sanomi, a Nigerian oil tycoon, provided written statements to UK investigators denying allegations that they had bankrolled luxury spending on behalf of the former minister. Neither man has been charged in the case and neither appeared in court.
Alison-Madueke, 65, is facing five counts of accepting bribes and one charge of conspiracy to commit bribery. She has denied all charges, claiming that any expenses covered on her behalf during official duties were later repaid.
In a statement to the National Crime Agency (NCA) from June 2016, Okyere said he had paid £3,900 for items purchased at the London department store Peter Jones after encountering Alison-Madueke at the checkout and seeing she lacked sufficient funds. He told investigators the money was later reimbursed in cash at his office in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, and described suggestions of bribery as “completely untrue.”
Sanomi, in a June 2017 statement, told the NCA that foreign currency shortages in Nigeria made it difficult to obtain certain items, so he “obtained items on Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s behalf in London” — all of which he said were later reimbursed. He added that his companies “always won their contracts fairly” through competitive bidding, without improper involvement from the former minister.
A statement from former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, who appointed Alison-Madueke as oil minister in 2010, was also read to the court. Jonathan said third parties making payments on behalf of ministers during overseas duties was not unusual, adding that any such assistance “would be recorded and reimbursed where applicable.” He confirmed he had approved her use of private jets on some foreign trips.
The court has previously heard allegations that oil tycoons provided private jets, luxury properties worth millions of pounds, and chauffeur-driven cars as part of a “life of luxury” afforded to the minister.
Testifying earlier Tuesday, Alison-Madueke said she had been unable to return to Nigeria since her arrest in 2015, having been held in London “at the expense of taxpayers.” She claimed her papers had been seized by Nigerian authorities, whom she accused of failing to assist her defence due to political opposition to the government she had served.
“At no time did I do anything to influence or show favour to anyone,” she told the court.
During cross-examination, prosecutor Alexandra Healy KC presented evidence of expensive purchases including Gucci handbags and furniture. Regarding a £170,000 shopping trip to a London antiques shop in 2013 — which included Venetian lamps and vases — Alison-Madueke denied the items were for a house she was building in Nigeria, telling the court: “I don’t think anyone would risk their career for furniture and handbags.”
Also on trial is Alison-Madueke’s brother, Doye Agama, a 69-year-old former archbishop, who denies conspiracy to commit bribery. Lawyers said he would not be giving evidence. Oil industry executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, denies one count of bribery relating to Alison-Madueke and a separate count of bribery of a foreign public official.
The trial continues.
