Counsel to former Nigerian petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke has informed a British court that she did not wield decision-making authority over the allocation of major government contracts, portraying her role instead as one that simply endorsed recommendations presented by officials.

The submission was made on Thursday at Southwark Crown Court in London, where Alison-Madueke is currently facing trial on corruption-related charges. Her legal team argued that she neither directed nor influenced contract decisions during her tenure in office.

Alison-Madueke, who served as Nigeria’s minister of petroleum resources from 2010 to 2015 under former president Goodluck Jonathan, has denied five allegations of receiving bribes as well as a separate count involving conspiracy to engage in bribery.

Prosecutors have alleged that while residing in London, the former minister lived an extravagant lifestyle, benefitting from luxury properties and expensive gifts allegedly supplied by individuals within the oil and gas sector seeking favorable treatment in contract awards.

In response, her lawyer, Jonathan Laidlaw, told the jury that certain financial transactions were carried out on her behalf due to regulations preventing Nigerian ministers from maintaining overseas bank accounts. He further stated that Alison-Madueke contests claims regarding the scale of accommodation and gifts attributed to her, maintaining that any personal expenses incurred were later fully repaid.

The former minister, who also previously held the position of president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is being tried alongside her brother, Doye Agama, who has also entered a not-guilty plea to a charge of conspiracy connected to alleged bribery activities linked to his church.

A third defendant, Olatimbo Ayinde, has likewise denied accusations, including claims that he bribed Alison-Madueke between 2012 and 2014 and engaged in the bribery of a foreign public official.