London court acquits Alison-Madueke of all corruption charges

Diezani Alison-Madueke, the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, was on Wednesday acquitted by a London jury of six bribery charges, after ‌a rare corruption trial of a high-profile former energy official. Alison-Madueke was minister between 2010 and 2015 under then-president Goodluck Jonathan. She stood trial ​charged with five counts of accepting bribes and a ​charge of conspiracy to commit bribery, which she denied. Prosecutors ⁠alleged Alison-Madueke, 65, was given “a life of luxury” in London ​from oil and gas industry figures seeking lucrative contracts in Nigeria, ​which has long grappled with mismanagement and corruption. But the former minister, who was also briefly president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, ​said she never took any bribes and had no real ​influence over the awarding of lucrative government contracts. After a trial at London’s Southwark ‌Crown ⁠Court, Alison-Madueke was acquitted by a jury of all six charges she faced after more than 46 hours of deliberation. The not guilty verdicts are a major blow to British authorities, which began their ​investigation into corruption ​allegations against Alison-Madueke ⁠more than a decade ago. Alison-Madueke stood trial alongside oil industry executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, who was ​charged with one count of bribery relating to ​Alison-Madueke ⁠and a separate count of bribery of a foreign public official. Alison-Madueke’s brother Doye Agama, 69, was charged with conspiracy to commit bribery ⁠with ​his sister relating to payments made to ​Agama’s church. Both Ayinde and Agama denied the charges against them and were also ​acquitted by the jury.