In a major legal victory, a London jury on Wednesday completely acquitted Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, of all six bribery charges she was facing in the United Kingdom.
Following an intensive 12-week trial at the Southwark Crown Court, the jury cleared the 65-year-old former minister after 46 hours of deliberation. She had faced five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. Alison-Madueke, who led Nigeria’s oil ministry from 2010 to 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan, had consistently maintained her innocence.
The prosecution had painted a picture of a “life of luxury” in London, arguing that Alison-Madueke accepted massive kickbacks from oil and gas executives in exchange for highly lucrative Nigerian contracts. The alleged bribes listed by prosecutors totaled millions of pounds, including:
* £100,000 in direct cash payments
* Over £2 million blown on high-end shopping sprees at Harrods
* £4.6 million designated for luxury property renovations
* Covered expenses for private jet travel, personal chauffeurs, and domestic staff at upscale residences in London and Buckinghamshire.
Taking the stand in her own defense, Alison-Madueke explicitly denied ever abusing her public office, testifying that she never requested, expected, or accepted any form of bribery. Her legal team successfully argued that the entire case was a politically motivated smear campaign, asserting that UK investigators had completely misconstrued normal financial transactions and benefits associated with her.
If she had been convicted under the UK’s strict anti-bribery laws, the former minister would have faced an unlimited financial penalty and up to 10 years in prison for the alleged offenses, which dated between 2011 and 2015.
The high-stakes trial, overseen by Justice Justine Thornton, also included two co-defendants: 54-year-old oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde and Alison-Madueke’s 69-year-old brother, Doye Agama. Ayinde had been charged with bribing a foreign public official and Alison-Madueke specifically, while Agama faced conspiracy charges regarding suspicious payments linked to his church. Both co-defendants denied the allegations and, alongside the former minister, walked out of the court entirely cleared of all
charges.