I never took any bribe from Diezani or her ally — former minister

By Abubakar Yunusa

Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, former minister of petroleum resources, says he never received any bribe from Diezani Alison-Madueke or any of her allies as alleged by prosecutors in a UK court.
TheCable had reported that Kachikwu was mentioned in the criminal charges against Alison-Madueke, former minster of petroleum resources, who was accused of receiving bribes in the form of cash, luxury goods, flights on private jets, and the use of high-end properties in the UK in return for awarding oil contracts.
According to the court process, Olatimbo Bukola Ayinde, one of the defendants and Alison-Madueke’s associate, reportedly bribed Kachikwu “in August 2015 with the intention of influencing his capacity as a foreign public official” when he was group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
However, Kachikwu said in a statement issued on Thursday: “I refer to the publication carried by some online media channels indicating that I was mentioned in the charges brought against Diezani 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.”
Kachikwu, a respected scholar, author and policy expert, is a visiting professor of several Nigerian and international universities.
At different times, he served as NNPC GMD, minister of state for petroleum, president of African Petroleum Producers Association and president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).