A London jury has cleared former Nigerian Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke of all six bribery charges against her, bringing to an end a legal saga that had stretched across more than a decade of British investigations into corruption allegations tied to Nigeria’s oil sector.
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The unanimous not-guilty verdicts were returned on Wednesday at Southwark Crown Court after the jury deliberated for more than 46 hours. Alison-Madueke, who served as Petroleum Minister under former President Goodluck Jonathan between 2010 and 2015, had been accused of accepting five bribes and conspiring to commit bribery in connection with the award of oil and gas contracts in Nigeria. She denied all the allegations throughout the proceedings.
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Prosecutors had painted a picture of a minister living lavishly in the United Kingdom at the expense of oil industry figures seeking government contracts, alleging she benefited from luxury properties, high-end shopping trips, and other perquisites during her tenure. In her defence, Alison-Madueke maintained that she neither solicited nor accepted bribes and argued that she had no direct authority over the award of government contracts.
Two co-defendants were also acquitted alongside her. Oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde, who faced bribery-related charges, and Alison-Madueke’s brother, Doye Agama, who was accused of conspiracy to commit bribery involving alleged payments linked to his church, were both cleared after similarly denying any wrongdoing.
The verdict closes a protracted legal chapter for the former minister, who had remained one of the most prominent figures caught up in international scrutiny of corruption during Nigeria’s oil boom years.
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