Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former minister of petroleum resources, on Monday, appeared before the Southwark Crown Court in London for a preliminary hearing in her ongoing bribery trial.
The matter was listed before Justice Thornton in Court 8, ahead of the commencement of the full trial scheduled for January 26, 2026.
Alison-Madueke was charged in August 2023 by UK authorities over an alleged £100,000 bribe. The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said it suspected the former minister accepted bribes in exchange for awarding multi-million-pound oil and gas contracts while in office in Nigeria.
She served as Nigeria’s minister of petroleum resources from 2010 to 2015 under the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and was elected president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 2014.
In October 2023, Alison-Madueke was granted bail in the sum of £70,000 by a Westminster Magistrates’ Court, which described her as a flight risk. The court imposed additional conditions, including an 11pm to 6am curfew, the use of an electronic tag, and the provision of a £70,000 surety before she was allowed to leave the court premises.
Beyond the UK proceedings, Alison-Madueke has faced asset recovery actions in multiple jurisdictions. In January 2025, the Nigerian government and the United States signed an asset return agreement for $52.88 million recovered from the Galactica assets linked to the former minister.
The US government said Alison-Madueke and her associates used proceeds from illicitly awarded contracts to acquire luxury real estate in California and New York, as well as the Galactica Star, a 65-metre superyacht.
In Nigeria, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has also pursued the forfeiture of assets linked to the former petroleum minister.
