Jonathan Laidlaw, counsel to Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former minister of petroleum resources, says his client wielded no real power over oil contract awards while in office.
Addressing jurors at the Southwark crown court in London, United Kingdom on Thursday, Laidlaw said Alison-Madueke merely acted as a “rubber stamp” for official recommendation.
Alison-Madueke served as minister of petroleum resources between 2010 and 2015 under the administration of Goodluck Jonathan, then-president of Nigeria.
The former minister is standing trial on five counts linked to alleged bribery, charges to which she has entered a not guilty plea.
The British prosecutors told the court earlier this week that Alison-Madueke received bribes through luxury items and access to high-end properties from figures within the oil industry.
Alexandra Healy, prosecutor, told jurors that Alison-Madueke “enjoyed a life of luxury in London”, allegedly funded by individuals seeking oil contracts in Nigeria.
According to Reuters, Laidlaw said his client’s ministerial role required her to sign oil and gas contracts approved by the federal government.
He asked jurors to consider whether Alison-Madueke had “any ability to exercise influence upon who would be awarded these contracts or … was she effectively a rubber stamp, stamping the recommendations that her civil servants made”.
According to him, purchases were made on behalf of his client “because Nigerian ministers are forbidden from having bank accounts abroad”.
Laidlaw added that personal expenses from overseas trips were settled by Alison-Madueke in Nigeria, while costs linked to official duties were “reimbursed from government coffers”.
The lawyer also told the court that spending viewed as excessive in the UK might not be regarded the same way in Nigeria.
