Diezani Alison-madueke acquitted on all 6 bribery counts

Diezani alison-madueke was found not guilty on all six bribery counts on Wednesday after a London jury cleared the former Nigerian petroleum minister of five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

Jurors at Southwark Crown Court reached their verdict after more than 46 hours of deliberations. The case had been charged in 2023 and followed an investigation by British authorities that began more than a decade ago.

Southwark Crown Court verdict

The jury’s decision ended the British case against Alison-Madueke, who served as Nigeria's petroleum minister between 2010 and 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan. Prosecutors said she had received lavish benefits and enjoyed what they described as a life of luxury in London.

They alleged the benefits were funded by oil and gas industry figures seeking favourable treatment and lucrative contracts in Nigeria's petroleum sector. Prosecutors argued those benefits were offered in exchange for influence over government decisions and contract awards.

Alison-Madueke's London case

Alison-Madueke maintained throughout the trial that she neither accepted bribes nor exercised direct control over the award of government contracts. She was also president of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries between 2014 and 2015, a period that overlapped with the later years of her time in Nigeria's cabinet.

She relocated to the United Kingdom after the defeat of the People's Democratic Party in Nigeria's 2015 presidential election. That move placed her in London while the corruption investigation moved forward and the criminal case eventually reached court.

Nigeria corruption cases

She also faces multiple corruption cases in Nigeria, and some have stalled because she is absent. Nigerian courts have ordered the forfeiture of assets worth billions of naira linked to her.

For readers tracking the wider fallout, Wednesday's acquittal closes the London prosecution but leaves those Nigerian proceedings and asset rulings in place. Alison-Madueke's name remains tied to both the British verdict and the separate cases that continue in Nigeria.