A court has heard recordings of a former Nigerian oil minister purportedly confronting two oil tycoons from whom she is suspected of receiving bribes, after their relationships had broken down.
Prosecutors said that Diezani Alison-Madueke was given “a life of luxury” in the UK, which they say was paid for by people who wanted to get rich oil contracts from the Nigerian government.
Alison-Madueke, 65, could be heard on a phone call saying, “I will be happy to take all of you to jail with me.”
She says she didn’t take bribes five times and was part of a scheme to do so.
The Southwark Crown Court heard that UK investigators took a Samsung phone from the former minister when they arrested her in London in 2015.
There were recordings on it of two talks Alison-Madueke had the year before, first with Olajide Omokore and secondly with Kolawole Aluko.
The two oil tycoons are not on trial, but prosecutors say they gave Alison-Madueke bribes while she was Nigeria’s petroleum resources minister from 2010 to 2015.
individuals say the talks happened when Alison-Madueke thought that both Omokore’s wife and Aluko were telling individuals they knew things that could “take her down.”
In the first tape, which was made in April 2014, Alison-Madueke could be heard saying to Omokore, “We who are in charge have kept quiet.” We haven’t said anything while folks like your wife sang all over the place.
The former minister said loudly, “I don’t like being blackmailed.”
The court also heard a second discussion between Alison-Madueke and Aluko, which was recorded a month later. You could hear Aluko being searched before the meeting started.
Alison-Madueke said on the recording that she was worried that Aluko’s “lavish, lascivious lifestyle” had gotten people talking online.”You’re a playboy,” she said, accusing him of “parading” his ties with people like British supermodel Naomi Campbell.Naomi Campbell, these are not the folks you should be showing off. Other men do these things, but they don’t show them off. They do them silently because it wasn’t the right time to show them off.
The ex-minister told Aluko that she had already talked to him about his “general behavior, acquisition of assets, etc.” and advised him to be careful because “intelligencer will start following you.”
Alison-Madueke said she was “really annoyed” to hear “this take her down, and information that you have on me.”She went on to say, “I’ll be happy to take all of you to jail with me.” “You will be shocked at what I will do because I will come out and tell the Nigerian people what happened when it comes to that.”Yes, I will blame myself, but I will say it out loud so that people may judge me. And then we all sit on the gate. “Let’s see who lived, me or you.”
Aluko may be heard on the tape saying, “I never said your name or any other name.” He informed Alison-Madueke that he had put some things in a safety deposit box, like “whatever I thought could save me, what could save me from jail.”
He said he had “a million flaws” but was “loyal like a dog.”
The defense lawyer for Alison-Madueke told the court that his client had not asked for or received any money from the individuals and that they had not been charged or sent back to their own country.
Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, an oil industry executive, is also on trial. He denies one charge of bribery related to Alison-Madueke and one charge of bribery of a foreign public official.
Alison-Madueke’s brother, retired bishop Doye Agama, 69, says he didn’t plan to bribe anyone.
The trial goes on.
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