Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s statement has been read at the Southwark Crown Court in the United Kingdom (UK) in the ongoing trial of Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former minister of petroleum.
According to the BBC, Jonathan’s statement was read during
court proceedings on Tuesday.
In the statement, the former president informed the court
that it was not unusual for third parties to make payments on behalf of
ministers on overseas duties.
Jonathan said he had approved Alison-Madueke’s use of
private jets on some foreign trips.
“Any properly incurred incidental or in-kind assistance from
third parties would be recorded and reimbursed where applicable,” the BBC
quoted the former president as saying in the statement.
Alison-Madueke was minister of petroleum resources from 2010
to 2015 during the Jonathan administration.
The former 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 all have pleaded
not guilty to the charges.
PREVIOUS COURT PROCEEDINGS
In January, British prosecutors accused Alison-Madueke of
accepting bribes in the form of luxury goods and use of high-level properties
from industry figures.
The prosecutors had said Alison-Madueke was given high-end
properties and luxury goods by people who believed that she would use her
influence to favour them for oil contracts.
Jonathan Laidlaw, counsel to Alison-Madueke, told the court
that his client had no real influence on the award of oil contracts during her
time in office as the minister.
IGHO SANOMI, GHANAIAN BUSINESSMAN DENY PAYING BRIBES
Igho Sanomi, a Nigerian business mogul, and Kevin Okyere, a
Ghanaian businessman, have denied paying bribes to Alison-Madueke.
Sanomi and Okyere’s statements made to the UK investigators
were also read out in the court on Tuesday.
According to the BBC, Sanomi and Okyere were believed to be
part of a group of industry insiders alleged to have bankrolled
Alison-Madueke’s spending sprees and luxury home stays.
Sanomi and Okyere were absent when their statements were
read in the court.
BBC reported that Okyere, in a written statement given to
the investigators of the National Crime Agency (NCA) in June 2016, said he had
paid for items bought by Alison-Madueke in 2014 at Peter Jones, a store.
The Ghanaian businessman said the former minister did not
have enough money when he met her at the shop’s tills, the checkout point.
Okyere said the £3,900 spent to get the items was later
reimbursed by Alison-Madueke in cash at his office in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
The businessman denied allegations that he bribed
Alison-Madueke, arguing that the claims are “completely untrue”.
Okyere is the founder of the Springfield Group, an oil
company in Ghana.
Also, Sanomi gave a statement to the NCA in June 2017.
In the statement, the Nigerian businessman said he bought
items in London on behalf of the former minister, adding that funds were later
reimbursed.
Sanomi said his companies “always won their contracts fairly
bidding against other competitors and that at no point was Mrs Alison Madueke
or anyone else improperly involved in any allocation.”
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