Olatimbo Bukola Ayinde, a Nigerian businesswoman with a controversial track record, was named as a defendant in the high-profile UK bribery case involving former petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Court documents revealed that Ayinde allegedly bribed Dr. Ibe Kachikwu—then the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)—in August 2015.
According to the prosecution, the bribe was offered to influence Kachikwu “in his capacity as a foreign public official,” violating sections 6 and 11 of the UK Bribery Act 2010.
At the time of the alleged offence, Kachikwu had just been appointed to head the NNPC, a role that placed him at the heart of Nigeria’s oil governance.
Ayinde was named alongside Doye Agama, believed to be Diezani’s brother, as a defendant in the UK court process.
Others mentioned in the case included Benedict Peters, the CEO of Aiteo Group, and Haruna Momoh, former managing director of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), although they were not listed as defendants.
The charges against Diezani Alison-Madueke accused her of accepting bribes in the form of cash, private jet trips, luxury items, and access to upscale properties in the UK in exchange for awarding lucrative oil contracts while serving as Nigeria’s petroleum minister from 2010 to 2015.
Alison-Madueke appeared before a Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London earlier in the week.
She did not take a plea but was granted conditional bail of £70,000 by Judge Michael Snow, who also imposed a night curfew, electronic monitoring, and required the surety to be paid before she could leave court premises.
Olatimbo Bukola Ayinde alleged involvement in alleged financial misconduct dated back years before the alleged UK bribery case.
In 2013, she was declared wanted by the Nigerian Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU) over her alleged role in a multi-billion-naira fuel subsidy scam.
At the time, Ayinde served as Managing Director of Tubbs Marine & Energy Limited.
A petition from the Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation of Fuel Subsidy Payments had accused Eurafric Oil and Coastal Services Limited of obtaining petroleum product import permits between 2010 and 2011, and subsequently receiving over N6.13 billion in subsidy payments.
Investigations later indicated that Eurafric had not carried out any actual importation but had allegedly transferred the permit to Ayinde’s company, Tubbs Marine, for N65 million.
The police claimed Ayinde and accomplices forged documents to fraudulently claim over N2 billion in subsidy payments from the federal government.
“The wanted suspect, Olatimbo Bukola Ayinde, the Managing Director of Tubbs Marine & Energy Limited, did not import any product based on the permit but fraudulently conspired with others at large and arranged forged documents with which she applied and received payment of over N2 billion as subsidy claims, thereby defrauding the Federal Government of Nigeria,” read the police bulletin signed by DSP Ngozi Isintume-Agu.
“The suspect is on the run. All efforts made to locate her in her last known addresses at No. 95, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos and 2nd Floor, No. 5, Bombay Crescent, Apapa, proved abortive.”
Despite being declared wanted, there was no public record confirming whether Ayinde had ever been arrested or prosecuted for the alleged subsidy fraud.
Her re-emergence in the UK bribery case has renewed scrutiny into her business dealings and past associations with Nigeria’s oil elite.
