Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has told a United Kingdom court that her role in approving oil contracts during her tenure was largely procedural, stating that most decisions were made before documents reached her desk.
Testifying before the Southwark Crown Court in London, Alison-Madueke said the structure of Nigeria’s oil industry limited her direct involvement in contract decisions, noting that operational authority was mainly exercised by the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
“The system was already in motion before files came to me,” she told the court, explaining that the size and complexity of the petroleum sector made direct ministerial oversight difficult.
She said contract approvals that reached her office had already undergone extensive technical and regulatory reviews, which was why she rarely rejected them.
“I was, in many instances, a rubber stamp in the process,” the former minister said.
Alison-Madueke also recounted a 2014 incident in which she said she discovered a questionable crude oil lifting arrangement allegedly linked to businessman Igho Sanomi. She explained that the issue came to her attention through a whistleblower report, prompting her to initiate steps to cancel the deal.
However, she told the court that the move faced strong resistance from influential interests and that complaints were eventually taken to then-President Goodluck Jonathan.
Addressing allegations about missing oil revenues, Alison-Madueke disputed claims by former Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi that about $20 billion in oil income could not be accounted for.
“There were no missing funds as widely reported,” she said, adding that later audits and legislative investigations attributed the figures to fuel subsidy payments and operational costs, rather than unaccounted revenue.
The former minister admitted that investigations carried out during her tenure uncovered widespread abuses in the fuel subsidy regime, including cases where some marketers submitted multiple claims.
She said measures introduced by the ministry helped reduce fraudulent payouts and tighten oversight of the subsidy system.
Alison-Madueke further told the court that her actions in confronting irregularities in the oil sector came with personal risks, including alleged security threats and the abduction of family members.
She also claimed that political and business figures frequently pressured her office for preferential access to oil allocations but insisted she rejected requests that did not follow due process.
On her personal finances, Alison-Madueke said she relied on Nigerian-issued bank cards for transactions, even during official trips abroad, in compliance with regulations prohibiting public officials from operating foreign bank accounts.
She noted that there were occasions when the cards failed overseas, forcing colleagues to temporarily cover expenses.
The court also examined records of her official travels between 2011 and 2015, including passport documents and official correspondence. Alison-Madueke said she typically travelled with a delegation of about 30 officials, including technical aides, security personnel and protocol officers.
“All movements were documented and archived in ministry records,” she said, adding that both commercial and chartered flights were used depending on the nature of official engagements.
Despite the allegations against her, Alison-Madueke maintained that her tenure was focused on promoting local participation in Nigeria’s oil industry and improving transparency.
She is currently standing trial alongside Olatimbo Ayinde and Doye Agama on a five-count charge bordering on bribery.
All the defendants have pleaded not guilty, and the trial is ongoing at the London court.
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