Former Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison‑Madueke was cleared of five counts of accepting bribes and a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery after a trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court.
The 65‑year‑old defiant of UK honours had subjected herself to an 11‑year legal battle, having been accused of accepting luxurious home stays and lavish spending sprees at Harrods in return for oil contracts.
Alison‑Madueke, who served as Nigeria’s minister from 2010 to 2015 and was the first female president of its OPEC board, was not convicted. The jury rejected the prosecution’s evidence that drew on claims of high‑value gifts and alleged monetary influence from wealthy oil executives.
The breakthrough verdict is a setback for Britain’s National Crime Agency which had investigated the case for over a decade. Its failure to secure extradition for the alleged pay‑masters and the lack of concrete evidence of payment were cited by the defence.
Defence lawyers pointed to a missing set of documents from the minister’s Abuja home and criticised the alleged “broken criminal justice system” for its nine‑year delay in bringing the case to court.
Alongside the minister, an archbishop brother and an oil executive named Olatimbo Ayinde were also found not guilty, the latter being treated as an informant in a Nigerian anti‑corruption probe.
Alison‑Madueke explained she had never accepted money or bribes and that many of the expensive items she acquired were used for interior design consultations for the oil men’s homes.
Goodluck Jonathan, the former Nigerian president who had appointed her, offered a statement noting that ministers’ overseas official expenses were often covered by third parties but did not appear as a witness.
“This nightmare is over,” she said after her acquittal. “After a decade of relentless vilification, the scrutiny that has haunted me and my family finally ends today.”
