Jury Acquits Former Nigerian Petroleum Minister After Decade-Long InvestigationLondon – A London jury has acquitted former Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, of all six bribery charges, delivering a significant setback to British prosecutors after more than a decade of investigations.
Alison-Madueke, 65, who served as Nigeria’s first female Petroleum Minister from 2010 to 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan, was found not guilty on five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
The trial at Southwark Crown Court, which began in January, ended after more than 46 hours of jury deliberation. Prosecutors had alleged that she received “a life of luxury” in London from oil and gas executives seeking lucrative contracts in Nigeria’s oil sector.
Alison-Madueke strongly denied the allegations throughout the trial, maintaining that she never took bribes and had no improper influence over contract awards. Her defence argued that the expenses in question were either reimbursed by the Nigerian government for official duties or paid for personally by her.
She was described in court as being known as “Madame Due Process.”Following the verdict, her lawyer stated: “She is grateful to the jury, having unnecessarily endured the ordeal of being separated from her family over 11 years. She is finally allowed to resume her private and public life with her reputation restored and enhanced.”
Also acquitted were oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, charged with one count of bribery relating to Alison-Madueke and another separate bribery charge, and her brother Doye Agama, 69, who faced a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery involving payments to his church. Both men denied the charges.
The case marks a major blow to the UK’s National Crime Agency, which had pursued the high-profile corruption investigation for over ten years. Alison-Madueke had previously faced multiple probes in Nigeria and allegations from U.S. authorities, though British prosecutors focused on the alleged acceptance of benefits rather than direct evidence of awarding improper contracts.
The former minister also briefly served as President of OPEC and survived several scandals during her time in government before leaving office in 2015.Britain’s National Crime Agency has not yet commented on the acquittal.
