Ex-oil minister Alison-Madueke cleared of all corruption charges

Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke has been acquitted of six bribery charges by a London jury, bringing to a close a rare corruption trial involving a former high-profile energy official.

Alison-Madueke, who served as Minister of Petroleum Resources from 2010 to 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan, faced five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. She denied all the allegations.

Prosecutors argued that the 65-year-old was given “a life of luxury” in London by oil and gas executives seeking to secure lucrative Nigerian contracts in a country long affected by mismanagement and corruption.

The former minister, who also briefly headed the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), maintained that she never accepted bribes and had no real influence over the award of government contracts.

Jurors at Southwark Crown Court returned not guilty verdicts on all six counts after more than 46 hours of deliberation.

The outcome marks a significant setback for British authorities, who began investigating the corruption allegations against her more than a decade ago.

Alison-Madueke stood trial alongside oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde, who faced one bribery charge linked to the case and a separate count of bribing a foreign public official. Her brother, Doye Agama, was also charged with conspiring with her over payments made to his church. Both Ayinde and Agama denied the charges and were also acquitted by the jury.

(Reuters)