In a major legal climax to a high-profile international corruption case spanning over a decade, Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been acquitted of all bribery charges by a UK court.
On Wednesday, June 17, 2026, a jury at the Southwark Crown Court in London returned not-guilty verdicts on all six counts faced by the 65-year-old former public official.
The decision marks a monumental conclusion to a legal saga that began with her initial arrest by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) in 2015.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that Alison-Madueke, who served as minister from 2010 to 2015 under former President Goodluck Jonathan, faced five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
Prosecutors alleged that Alison-Madueke, 65, was given “a life of luxury” in London by oil and gas industry figures seeking lucrative contracts in Nigeria.
According to British prosecutors, the benefits improperly received included:
- Free use of high-end, multi-million-pound properties in London and Buckinghamshire.
- Chauffeur-driven luxury cars, private jet flights, and extensive shopping trips, including a reported £2 million spending spree at Harrods
- Renovation work, furniture, and private school tuition fees are paid for by industry actors.
However, the former minister, who also briefly served as President of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said she never received any bribes and had no real influence over the awarding of government contracts.
Her defense team argued that as minister, she acted primarily as a “rubber stamp” for official, technical recommendations made by state boards, rather than exerting personal, direct control over contract awards.
Furthermore, her lawyers showed that the financial and travel logistics highlighted by the prosecution were handled and formally reimbursed through official channels via the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), rather than being illicit gifts.
The defense also cast serious doubt on the prosecution’s evidence, pointing out massive procedural irregularities during a 2015 raid on her Abuja residence, including a total lack of photographic or video records of items in their original locations.
Following proceedings at Southwark Crown Court in London, a jury acquitted Alison-Madueke of all six charges after more than 46 hours of deliberation.
Alison-Madueke stood trial alongside oil industry executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, who faced one count of bribery relating to Alison-Madueke and another count of bribery of a foreign public official.
Her brother, Doye Agama, 69, was also charged with conspiracy to commit bribery alongside her, relating to alleged payments made to Agama’s church.
Both Ayinde and Agama denied the charges and were also acquitted by the jury.
The acquittal represents a severe blow to British anti-corruption authorities, who spent over ten years building what they framed as a landmark cross-border international corruption probe.
While Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has previously secured local asset forfeiture orders tied to her name, this UK jury decision entirely clears her of criminal wrongdoing under British law.
