Breaking: UK Police Charge Former Petroleum Minister Alison-Madueke With Bribery
- The British police have filed a fresh charge against the former minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke
- The UK police said Madueke had been charged with bribery offences, adding they suspected she had accepted bribes in return for awarding contracts
- Madueke, who was the president of OPEC, served during the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, from 2010 to 2015
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London - A new report has it that the British police on Tuesday, August 22, charged former Nigerian oil minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to court for bribery offences.
This followed an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA), Reuters reported.
Source: Twitter
According to the NCA, Madueke had 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.
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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, BBC News Pidgin report added.
Madueke, who currently lives in St John’s Wood, London, will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday, October 2, 2023.
Alison-Madueke, 63, was a key figure in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, serving as petroleum minister from 2010 to 2015. She also acted as president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
"We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million-pound contracts," said Andy Kelly, Head of the National Crime Agency's (NCA) International Corruption Unit.
"These charges are a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex international investigation," She added.
Court jails ex-Minister Sarah Ochekpe
The Federal High Court sitting in Jos sentenced a former minister of water resources, Sarah Ochekpe, as well as Raymond Dabo and Evangelist Leo Sunday Jitung, to three-month imprisonment each.
The three defendants had been standing trial for four years on charges bordering on conspiracy and money laundering, amounting to over N450 million.
Ochekpe, who served as a minister under former President Goodluck Jonathan, was sentenced alongside a former chairman of the People Democratic Party in Plateau state, Dabo, and the Plateau state coordinator of Jonathan Campaign Organization, Jitong.
EFCC discovers fresh $72.8m linked to Diezani
Meanwhile, a fresh sum of $72.87 million said to be linked to the embattled former minister of petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been discovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In a statement on the discovery, the anti-graft agency disclosed that the money was traced to a new generation bank and that the former managing director of the bank, Nnamdi Okonkwo, who was in office at the time of the alleged crime, has been arrested.
Source: Legit.ng
