LONDON — A London jury on Wednesday acquitted former Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke of six bribery charges, closing a high-profile corruption trial that had stretched over more than a decade. The not-guilty verdicts mark a setback for British investigators who opened the probe into allegations against Alison-Madueke years ago.
Alison-Madueke, 65, who served as Nigeria’s minister of petroleum resources from 2010 to 2015 and briefly led OPEC, faced five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. Prosecutors had argued that she accepted lavish benefits in London from oil and gas figures seeking profitable contracts in Nigeria. The defence said the expenditures were either state-funded for official business, personally paid by Alison-Madueke, or otherwise accounted for, and maintained she had no role in improperly awarding contracts.
After more than 46 hours of jury deliberation in Southwark Crown Court, the former minister was acquitted. Her lawyers highlighted her reputation for due process and her testimony denying any bribery. In a statement released by her spokesperson, Alison-Madueke said the verdict ended an “11 long, gruelling years” of legal and public scrutiny that had weighed on her and her family.
The trial also saw the acquittal of oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, who faced bribery counts tied to Alison-Madueke and another foreign official, and Alison-Madueke’s brother, Doye Agama, 69, who was cleared of conspiracy charges over payments linked to his church.
British prosecutors did not allege in court that Alison-Madueke had awarded contracts improperly, focusing instead on whether it was improper for her to accept benefits. U.S. authorities have previously accused her of steering lucrative contracts to executives who paid bribes, a claim that was not proven at the London trial.
The proceedings nearly collapsed before the jury began deliberating after procedural challenges and delays, including claims about the integrity of Nigerian investigators and a late dispute involving allegations that Alison-Madueke had reported corruption to President Bola Tinubu. A letter from Nigeria’s, attorney general in March sent while accompanying President Tinubu on a state visit to London, related to those claims but did not prevent the trial from concluding with acquittals. A National Crime Agency spokesperson said the agency respected the jury’s decision.