The defence and prosecution have closed their case in the ongoing trial of Diezani Alison-Madueke, former minister of petroleum resources in Nigeria, at the Southwark Crown Court in the United Kingdom.
The ex-minister is standing trial alongside Olatimbo Ayinde,
an oil executive; and Doye Agama, her brother; on a five-count charge bordering
on accepting bribes.
They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
British prosecutors had accused Alison-Madueke of accepting
bribes in the form of luxury goods from industry figures.
The prosecutors had said Alison-Madueke was given high-end
properties by people who believed that she would use her influence to favour
them in oil contracts.
The former minister and her counsel had denied all the
allegations.
Alison-Madueke was minister of petroleum resources from 2010
to 2015.
THE CLOSING SUBMISSIONS
During proceedings on Tuesday, Jonathan Laidlaw, the
defendant’s counsel, rendered his closing arguments.
According to THISDAY, Laidlaw accused UK prosecutors of
failing to prosecute the alleged bribe givers, relying on questionable
evidence, and inability to provide some evidence necessary for the case.
The lead counsel argued that while Alison-Madueke was
charged, the wealthy oil businessmen alleged to have paid bribes to her were
never charged.
“One can be forgiven whether parliament, in its wisdom, when
enacting the Bribery Act, could have contemplated this absurd situation where
the people who are alleged to have paid the bribes are free, while the accused
has been held prisoner for 11 years,” Laidlaw was quoted by THISDAY.
Laidlaw said officials of the UK’s National Crime Agency
were absent during the raid on the Abuja residence of the former minister in
October 2015.
The counsel said none of the items allegedly recovered
during the operation were photographed in their original locations, adding that
NCA does not even possess the original materials now being relied upon in
court.
He alleged that key documents capable of supporting
Alison-Madueke’s defence had disappeared, including records relating to
reimbursements and official documentation connected to her ministerial duties.
The counsel faulted the prosecution’s claim that records
showing the official movements of the former minister and fund disbursements do
not exist.
Laidlaw faulted why the prosecution relied heavily on the
evidence generated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),
while rejecting the agency’s correspondence tendered in support of co-defendant
— Ayinde — as unreliable.
In his closing submission, Alexandra Healy, the lead
prosecutor, reiterated allegations that some oil executives provided improper
benefits to Alison-Madueke while their companies benefited from lucrative state
contracts during her tenure as petroleum minister.
Healy told the jury that it was improper for a sitting
minister to have her lifestyle funded by individuals doing business with the
Nigerian state.
Healy disagreed with the defence’s argument that all
benefits were reimbursed in Nigeria, adding that no documentary evidence of
reimbursement has been produced and no such claim has been raised in earlier
police interviews.
The prosecutor said the ex-federal minister was aware of the
investigation for nearly a decade.
The prosecution mentioned a £1 million payment linked to
Benedict Peters, a businessman, describing the use of intermediary structures
as an “extraordinary device” designed to conceal the true nature of the
transaction.
The jury is set to deliver its verdict later this week.
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