A former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has denied his involvement in the bribery charges preferred against his predecessor, Diezani Alison-Madueke, in the United Kingdom.

The British police had accused Alison-Madueke, who was charged to court in the UK with bribery offences, of accepting bribes in return for awarding multi-million-pound oil and gas contracts while serving as petroleum minister from 2010 to 2015.

Alison-Madueke, who served in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, was charged with receiving bribes in the form of cash, luxury goods, flights on private jets, and the use of high-end properties in Britain in return for awarding oil contracts.

Reports later emerged that Kachikwu was mentioned in the ongoing bribery case against Alison-Madueke in London.

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An online platform also reported that Kachikwu was bribed in August 2015 with the intention of influencing his capacity as a foreign public official.

Reacting to the allegation on Thursday, October 5, 2023, the former minister said he never received any bribe from his predecessor.

Kachikwu stated: “I refer to the publication carried by some online media channels indicating that I was mentioned in the charges brought against Deziani Alison-Madueke and others in a London magistrate court.

“According to the publications, the said charge alleged that I was bribed to induce me to possibly confer some potential business advantage on one of the accused.

“I wish to state that I never met any of the accused before, all through and after my public service period and was not offered nor received any bribe nor did any of the accused persons receive any business favours while I served.

“If there was any attempt to bribe me through anyone, I was not part of that and received no offers or favours therefrom.”

The Star