Oil tycoons deny paying bribes to former Nigerian minister

Two oil executives have denied paying bribes to former Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, a court has been told.

Statements made by Kevin Okyere and Igho Sanomi to UK investigators were read out in Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday.

The men are part of a group of industry insiders alleged to have bankrolled spending sprees and luxury hotel stays by Alison-Madueke, 65. None of them has been charged in this case, and they have not appeared in person at court.

Alison-Madueke denies five counts of accepting bribes and a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery. She has said the cost of services laid on for her while on official duties was later repaid.

In a written statement given to National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators in June 2016, Ghanaian businessman Okyere said he had paid for items bought at Peter Jones by Alison-Madueke two years earlier, after bumping into her at the tills and seeing that she did not have enough money.

Okyere, who is chief executive of several oil and gas companies, said that the £3,900 was later reimbursed by Alison-Madueke in cash at his office in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

He also told investigators that the allegation that he had “bribed” Alison-Madueke was “completely untrue”.

Nigerian oil tycoon Sanomi, meanwhile, gave a statement to the NCA in June 2017.

In it, he said “foreign currency exchange [was] difficult in Nigeria” and that as a result he “obtained items on Mrs Alison-Madueke’s behalf in London”, which would all be reimbursed.

He also told the NCA that his companies “always won their contracts fairly bidding against other competitors and that at no point was Mrs Alison Madueke or anyone else improperly involved in any allocation” to him or his companies.

A statement was also read to the court on Tuesday by former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, who appointed Alison-Madueke as oil minister in 2010.

In it, he said it was not unusual for third parties to make payments on behalf of ministers on overseas duties.

He added that “any properly incurred incidental or in-kind assistance from third parties would be recorded and reimbursed where applicable”.

Jonathan also said he had approved her use of private jets on some foreign trips.

The court previously heard how oil tycoons had allegedly paid for private jets as part of the “life of luxury” provided to the minister, which is also alleged to have included the use of properties worth millions of pounds and chauffeur-driven cars.

Alison-Madueke finished nearly 11 days of testifying earlier on Tuesday. She was asked what efforts she had made since her arrest in 2015 to provide evidence that money spent in multiple shopping trips to Harrods and other luxury stores had been paid back.

She said that since her arrest she had been held in London by the NCA “at the expense of taxpayers and had not been allowed to go back to Nigeria in the last 10 years”.

Alison-Madueke also said her papers had been seized by the Nigerian authorities, whom she accused of not assisting her defence because of their political opposition to the government she had been part of.

She denied she was lying about not receiving financial or other advantages from oil executives.

“At no time did I do anything to influence or show favour to anyone,” she told the court.

During six days of cross examination by prosecutor Alexandra Healy KC, the ex-minister was taken through a large number of expensive items, such as Gucci handbags and furniture, which the prosecution allege were bought for her.

In a trip in November 2013 to Vincenzo Caffarella, a decorative arts and antiques shop in London, £170,000 was allegedly spent on a “vast amount of property” including Venetian lamps and vases. Alison-Madueke denied it was to furnish a house she was having built in Nigeria, saying most of the items were not for her.

“I don’t think anyone would risk their career for furniture and handbags,” she told the court.

Also on trial is Alison-Madueke’s brother, former archbishop Doye Agama, 69, who the court was told would not be giving evidence. He denies conspiracy to commit bribery.

Meanwhile, 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.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.