A jury at a London court on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, returned not-guilty verdicts on Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke.
The court cleared her of all six bribery-related charges brought against her by British prosecutors.
Mrs Alison-Madueke was acquitted of five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
The former minister, 65, who served as Nigeria’s petroleum minister between 2010 and 2015 in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, had consistently denied the allegations.
The prosecutors had alleged that Mrs Alison-Madueke received lavish benefits and enjoyed what they described as “a life of luxury” in London, and were funded by oil and gas industry figures that sought favourable treatment and lucrative contracts in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
The prosecutors argued that the benefits were provided in exchange for influence over government decisions and contract awards.
Prosecutors allege that several Nigerian businessmen funded lavish expenses on her behalf, including more than £2 million spent at Harrods and about £4.6 million spent on refurbishing properties in London and Buckinghamshire.
According to the prosecution, some of the purchases were made using payment cards linked to Nigerian businessman Kolawole Aluko and his company, Tenka Limited.
The case also includes allegations that she had access to luxury properties, including a £2.8 million home in Marylebone and residences overlooking Regent’s Park, as well as a “grand” home in Buckinghamshire.
During her court appearance, the former minister denied all allegations. Mrs Alison-Madueke told the court that the NNPC reimbursed expenses incurred on her behalf during official engagements.
“I can state categorically that at no point did I ask for, take or receive a bribe of any sort… and did not abuse my office,” she said during one of her court hearings, according to BBC.
She explained that a logistics company was set up in London to handle official arrangements because of what she described as a disorganised financial structure at the NNPC at the time.
But, Alison-Madueke insisted throughout the trial that she neither accepted bribes nor exercised direct control over the award of government contracts.
The jurors at the Southwark Crown Court after more than 46 hours of deliberations, found her not guilty on all six counts.
Reuters reported that the verdict represented a major setback for British authorities, whose investigation into corruption allegations involving the former minister began more than a decade ago.
Mrs Alison-Madueke was one of the most influential figures in Nigeria’s oil industry during her tenure as minister of petroleum during which time she also served as president of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) between 2014 and 2015.
Mrs Alison-Madueke stood trial alongside oil industry executive Olatimbo Ayinde, who faced one count charge of bribery relating to Ms Alison-Madueke and another count of bribing a foreign public official.
The court’s decision brings to a close one of the most closely watched international corruption cases involving a former Nigerian public official.
The former minister was standing trial over allegations of corruption, having been charged in 2023 with five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
The UK prosecutors said the charges were linked to the awards of oil and gas contracts during her tenure as petroleum minister between 2010 and 2015.
Mrs Alison-Madueke relocated to the United Kingdom in 2015 following the defeat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the presidential election.
The former minister is also facing corruption cases in Nigeria, some of which have stalled due to her absence, even as some Nigerian courts have ordered the forfeiture of assets worth billions of naira linked to her.
