Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke has asked Nigerians to pray for her over the multi-million-pound allegations and charges of bribery and corruption instituted against her by the United Kingdom National Crime Agency (NCA).
“I need prayers. Please pray for me,” she told members of the Nigerian community in the UK after the hearing on the fifth-floor courtroom.
Allison-Madueke was alleged by the NCA to have benefitted in cash and kind for the awards of multi-million pounds worth of oil and gas contracts while serving in former president Goodluck Jonathan’s administration between 2010 and 2015.
During Monday’s hearing, both sides of the bench argued that the trial was expected to last between seven to ten weeks; beginning not earlier than November 2025.
However, they reasoned that they wouldn’t want the Christmas break to halt the proceedings when the trial eventually begins.
When the crown prosecutor told the judge that it’s either “January 19, 2026,” and that “November 3, 2025, is the second date that the court can accommodate the case,” judge Baumgartner said: “l think January 19, 2026, will be more suited to the case.”
