A UK jury has acquitted former Nigerian petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke of all six bribery charges after a lengthy trial at Southwark Crown Court.
Alison-Madueke, who served from 2010 to 2015 under ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, faced five counts of accepting bribes and one of conspiracy to commit bribery. She denied all allegations.6fcd6f
Prosecutors had accused the 65-year-old of enjoying “a life of luxury” in London funded by oil executives seeking lucrative Nigerian contracts.ffa49c
However, Alison-Madueke insisted she never received bribes and had no control over the awarding of government contracts.da5720
After more than 46 hours of deliberation, the jury returned not guilty verdicts on all charges, dealing a significant setback to British authorities who pursued the case for over a decade.8a9cde
Co-defendants Olatimbo Ayinde, an oil executive, and her brother Doye Agama were also acquitted on related bribery charges.939efc
The case highlighted long-standing concerns over corruption in Nigeria’s oil sector, one of the world’s largest producers.
