Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been cleared of all bribery charges brought against her by British prosecutors after a jury at the Southwark crown court in London returned not-guilty verdicts on Wednesday.
Alison-Madueke, who served as Nigeria’s Petroleum Minister between 2010 and 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan, was acquitted of five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
Prosecutors alleged that Alison-Madueke received lavish benefits and enjoyed what they described as “a life of luxury” in London, funded by oil and gas industry figures seeking favourable treatment and lucrative contracts in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
