The proceedings regarding the corruption allegations levied against Diezani Allison-Madueke, the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, by the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom, have been postponed until February 23, 2024.
The ruling was rendered by Justice Baumgartner in Courtroom 14 of the Southwark Crown Court yesterday, during the plea and trial preparation hearing.
The former minister and her two co-defendants, Olatimbo Ayinde and Doye Agame, were not compelled to enter a plea during the fifteen-minute inquiry. However, each of the three individuals was requested to verify their names.
The mother of one responded affirmatively with a bow in response to the court clerk’s inquiry, “Are you Diezani Allison-Madueke?” Allison-Madueke did not submit a motion to modify her bail conditions, in contrast to Agame, who requested an extension to his known address within the United Kingdom to sleep elsewhere. The magistrate granted Agame’s request. Presently released on a £70,000 surety bail, she is required to be present at her established London address every day from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
The judge reminded her and Ayinde prior to adjournment, “I have granted you bail in the same manner as before; however, the conditions of Agame’s bail have been modified as previously disclosed.”
The NCA accuses the former minister, who was apprehended by the Metropolitan Police in October 2015, of accepting gratuities in exchange for the awarding of multimillion-pound oil and gas contracts during her tenure in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan from 2010 to 2015.
In addition to serving as president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) between 2014 and 2015, the defendant is charged with receiving a financial benefit of up to £100,000. She has not yet entered a plea in response to the allegations. The estimated duration of the proposed trial is seven to six weeks.