Former Nigerian Oil Minister Threatens Tycoons in Secretly Recorded Conversations, Court Hears

A London court has heard dramatic secret recordings of former Nigerian Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke threatening to take two oil businessmen “to jail” with her, as her corruption trial continues.

Prosecutors allege the 65-year-old former minister accepted bribes in exchange for awarding lucrative oil contracts, which funded what they describe as a “life of luxury” for her in the UK.

The jury at Southwark Crown Court was played audio files extracted from a Samsung phone seized by UK investigators when Alison-Madueke was arrested in London in 2015. The recordings, made in 2014, capture conversations with Nigerian oil moguls Olajide Omokore and Kolawole Aluko.

According to the prosecution, the conversations took place after Alison-Madueke became concerned that the two men—or, in Omokore’s case, his wife—were spreading information that could incriminate her.

In an April 2014 recording, the former minister is heard confronting Omokore. “We who are managing the thing have kept quiet. We’ve kept quiet… while people like your wife are busy singing all over the place,” she said, before raising her voice to add, “I do not react well to being blackmailed.”

A second recording, made a month later with Aluko, captures a more explicit threat. On the tape, Alison-Madueke expresses frustration over Aluko’s “lavish, lascivious lifestyle,” accusing him of drawing unwanted attention by publicly associating with figures like British supermodel Naomi Campbell.

“I will be happy to escort all of you to jail along with myself,” she tells Aluko on the recording. “You will be shocked what I will do because when it comes to that, I will come out and tell the Nigerian people this is what happened.”

On the tape, Aluko can be heard denying he ever mentioned her name and claims he placed documents in a safety deposit box as insurance, describing himself as “loyal like a dog.”

Alison-Madueke faces five counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, which she denies. Neither Omokore nor Aluko are on trial, but prosecutors allege they were the ones who paid the bribes.

Also standing trial are oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, who denies one count of bribery relating to Alison-Madueke, and her brother, former bishop Doye Agama, 69, who denies conspiracy to commit bribery. The trial continues.

Culled from BBC News