Diezani Alison-Madueke, former Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources, appeared at Southwark Crown Court in London on Monday for a preliminary hearing in her ongoing bribery trial.
The hearing, presided over by Justice Thornton in Court 8, precedes her main trial, scheduled to begin on 26 January 2026.
Alison-Madueke was formally charged in August 2023 by UK authorities with allegedly receiving a £100,000 bribe.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) alleges that she “accepted illegal payments in exchange for the approval of oil and gas contracts worth several millions of pounds” while in public office.
She served as Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources from 2010 to 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan and became president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 2014.
A UK court granted her bail in October 2023, set at £70,000, citing concerns that she was a flight risk.
Under the bail conditions, Alison-Madueke must observe a nightly curfew from 11 pm to 6 am, wear an electronic monitoring tag at all times, and provide the £70,000 surety before leaving court.
In January 2025, Nigeria and the United States signed an asset repatriation agreement involving $52.88 million linked to the Galactica assets allegedly associated with Alison-Madueke.
The US government stated that she and her associates used “proceeds of those illicitly awarded contracts” to acquire high-end properties in California and New York, as well as the 65-metre superyacht Galactica Star.
Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) continues to pursue several other assets believed to be connected to the former minister.
Separately, a four-part docu-series titled Is It Your Money?, produced by Chude Jideonwo and West Africa’s largest factual content studio, was released in May 2025, detailing Alison-Madueke’s tenure and subsequent legal troubles.
The documentary, funded primarily by the MacArthur Foundation, was shot across Nigeria, the UK, and the United States, spanning eight cities.
“This has been almost three years of the most painstaking research, shooting, investment, fact-checking, post-production and fending off multiple threats that we will not talk about just yet,” said Chude Jideonwo, the director.
Part one is now streaming on the premium service withChude.com, with subsequent parts to be released weekly.
The documentary has been shown at international film festivals and received awards for “Best Documentary” in Nigeria.
It was produced in collaboration with YNaija Studios and Capital Film Productions.
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