Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been acquitted of all bribery charges brought against her in the United Kingdom.

A jury at Southwark Crown Court in London yesterday returned not-guilty verdicts on six counts, including five charges of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

The verdict followed more than 46 hours of jury deliberations after a trial that began in January.

The judgment marks a significant victory for the former oil minister, who had consistently maintained her innocence throughout the proceedings.

Alison-Madueke, 65, served as Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources from 2010 to 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

She was also the first woman to hold the position and later became the first female president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

British prosecutors had alleged that the former minister received substantial benefits from influential figures in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector in exchange for helping them secure lucrative contracts.

According to the prosecution, the benefits included luxury accommodation in London, expensive shopping trips and other high-end expenses which allegedly funded what they described as a “life of luxury.”

Alison-Madueke denied all allegations, insisting that she never solicited or accepted bribes and had no improper role in the award of contracts.

During the trial, she portrayed herself as a public official committed to transparency and due process, telling the court she had earned the nickname “Madam Due Process” because of her insistence on following established procedures.

“At no time did I ask for, seek or receive any bribe,” she told the court during her testimony.

Her legal team argued that many of the expenses cited by prosecutors were either reimbursed by the Nigerian government for official assignments or paid by Alison-Madueke herself.

They further contended that crucial documents that would have supported her defence were seized in Nigeria but never produced before the court.

The defence also questioned the lengthy delay in bringing the case to trial, describing it as evidence of systemic shortcomings within the British criminal justice system.

Alison-Madueke’s acquittal is viewed as a setback for the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA), which spent 13 years investigating allegations against one of Africa’s most prominent political figures.

According to the BBC, the jury also cleared two co-defendants who stood trial alongside the former minister.

Her elder brother, Doye Agama, a Manchester-based Pentecostal archbishop, was found not guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery.

Following the verdict, Alison-Madueke expressed relief that the legal ordeal had finally ended.

In a statement released by her lawyers, she thanked the jury and described the verdict as the end of a painful chapter in her life.

“For 11 long, gruelling years, this case has hung over my head and tormented my family and me,” she said.

She added that the acquittal had brought an end to what she described as years of public scrutiny and reputational damage.

Her legal representatives said the former minister had “unnecessarily endured the ordeal” of being separated from her family for more than a decade and could now return to both private and public life with her reputation restored.

The verdict closes one of the most closely watched corruption cases involving a former public official in a foreign jurisdiction and ends a legal saga that has attracted international attention for more
than ll years.