Diezani appears in London court as bribery trial date looms

Former Nigerian minister of petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, appeared at the Southwark Crown Court in London on Monday for a preliminary hearing in her pending bribery trial.

The case was listed on the court’s cause list for Court 8 before Justice Thornton, ahead of a full trial set to begin on January 26, 2026.

Alison-Madueke was charged in August 2023 by the UK government over an alleged £100,000 bribe. The National Crime Agency (NCA) said it suspected she accepted the bribe in exchange for awarding multi-million-pound oil and gas contracts during her tenure.

She served as Nigeria’s minister of petroleum resources from 2010 to 2015 under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. In 2014, she was elected president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

In October 2023, Alison-Madueke was granted bail in the sum of £70,000 by the Westminster magistrates court, which imposed strict conditions due to concerns she was a flight risk. The conditions included an electronic tag, a nightly curfew between 11pm and 6am, and a £70,000 surety.

In January 2025, Nigeria and the United States signed an asset return agreement for $52.88 million recovered from the Galactica assets linked to Alison-Madueke. The US government said the funds were traced to luxury real estate purchases in California and New York and the acquisition of the Galactica Star, a 65-metre superyacht, allegedly bought with proceeds from illicit contracts.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has also pursued assets connected to the former minister in Nigeria.