Explosive audio recordings from Diezani Alison-Madueke’s seized phone reveal heated confrontations with oil tycoons Olajide Omokore and Kolawole Aluko
Diezani Alison-Madueke Trial: Court Hears Audio of Ex-Minister Threatening to “Escort” Oil Tycoons to Jail Over Bribes
In a dramatic turn at Southwark Crown Court, explosive audio recordings captured former Nigerian Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke allegedly threatening to drag two prominent oil tycoons to prison alongside her—evidence prosecutors say exposes the fallout from alleged bribery schemes during her tenure.
The clips, recovered from a Samsung phone seized during her 2015 arrest in London, feature tense 2014 conversations with Olajide Omokore and Kolawole Aluko—businessmen UK authorities accuse of paying her bribes in exchange for lucrative oil and gas contracts, according to a report monitored on Premium Times.
Diezani Alison-Madueke, 65, denies five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. Prosecutors allege the tycoons funded her lavish lifestyle, including luxury shopping sprees, private jets, and property upkeep—benefits tied to decisions she made as minister under President Goodluck Jonathan.
In one heated exchange with Omokore, her voice rings out defiantly, “I will be happy to escort all of you to jail along with myself.”
“We who are managing the thing have kept quiet. We’ve kept quiet… while people like your wife are busy singing all over the place.” “I do not react well to being blackmailed.”
The second recording—dubbed the “Playboy Lecture” in court—shows her scolding Aluko over his flashy public life and high-profile romance with supermodel Naomi Campbell. “As far as everybody’s concerned, you’re a playboy. Naomi Campbell, these are not the people for you to be parading… Other men do these things, but they don’t parade them. They do them quietly because the time for parading these things was not now,” she warned.
Expressing fury at perceived betrayal, she continued: “I’m really annoyed to hear this takes her down, and information that you have on me.” “I will be happy to escort all of you to jail along with myself… You will be shocked at what I will do because when it comes to that, I will come out and tell the Nigerian people this is what happened. Oh yes, I will blame myself… but I will come out openly and say it so they can judge me openly. And then all of us go and sit at the gate. Let us see who survived, me or you.”
Aluko responded defensively: “I never ever mentioned your name or any other name.” He insisted he was “loyal like a dog” and revealed he had stashed sensitive materials in a safety deposit box “whatever I thought could save me, what could save me from jail.”
Her defence lawyer, Jonathan Laidlaw KC, pushed back strongly, describing her role in major oil deals as merely that of a “rubber stamp” rather than exercising decisive control.
The trial—ongoing since late January 2026—continues to unpack a web of alleged corruption that has gripped Nigeria and international anti-graft circles for years. Alison-Madueke maintains her innocence as the high-stakes proceedings unfold in London. Read More
