Former Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke was acquitted on all bribery-related charges on Wednesday after a London jury cleared her in a closely watched corruption trial that followed more than a decade of investigations by British authorities.
Alison-Madueke, who served as Nigeria’s minister of petroleum resources between 2010 and 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan, had denied five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. Prosecutors alleged she received luxury benefits from oil and gas industry figures seeking lucrative contracts in Nigeria.
After more than 46 hours of deliberations, jurors at Southwark Crown Court returned not guilty verdicts on all six charges against the 65-year-old former minister.
Alison-Madueke’s co-defendants, oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde and her brother, Doye Agama, were also acquitted. Ayinde had faced bribery charges linked to the alleged payments, while Agama was accused of conspiring with his sister in relation to payments made to his church. Both had denied wrongdoing.
The case was one of the most prominent corruption trials involving a former Nigerian public official in a foreign court. British prosecutors alleged that Alison-Madueke enjoyed a “life of luxury” funded by businessmen who hoped to benefit from oil and gas contracts during her tenure overseeing Africa’s largest oil producer. The alleged benefits included the use of luxury properties, private jet travel, chauffeur-driven vehicles and high-end shopping.
Throughout the trial, Alison-Madueke maintained that she neither solicited nor accepted bribes and argued that she had no direct role in determining which companies received government contracts. She told the court that decisions on contract awards were made through established government processes.
The acquittal marks a significant setback for British authorities, who began investigating allegations against Alison-Madueke more than 10 years ago. The verdict brings to a close a trial that began in January and attracted attention in both the United Kingdom and Nigeria because of the former minister’s prominent role in the country’s oil sector and her position as a former president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Alison-Madueke, once one of the most influential figures in Nigeria’s energy industry, has faced multiple corruption allegations since leaving office in 2015. Wednesday’s verdict relates specifically to the UK bribery case and does not affect separate asset recovery proceedings and investigations conducted in other jurisdictions over the years.
