Former minister of petroleum resources,
Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been acquitted of bribery charges filed against her at the Southwark crown court in London, United Kingdom .
Alison-Madueke was acquitted by a jury of all six charges after hours of deliberation on Wednesday.
During the trial, the written statement of former President Goodluck Jonathan was read in the open court.
In the written statement, Jonathan told the court that it was not unusual for third parties to make payments on behalf of ministers on overseas duties.
Jonathan stated that he had approved Alison-Madueke’s use of private jets on some foreign trips.
In January 2026, the trial of the former minister started after the UK government charged her in August 2023 over an alleged £100,000 bribe.
The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said they suspected Diezani had accepted bribes in return for awarding multi-million-pound oil and gas contracts during her stint in office.
Diezani, along with Olatimbo Ayinde, an oil executive, and Doye Agama, her brother, were arraigned on charges bordering on accepting bribes. All of them pleaded not guilty.
During the proceedings, UK prosecutors accused Alison-Madueke of accepting bribes in the form of luxury goods and use of high-level properties from industry figures.
A prosecutor, Alexandra Healy told the jurors that Diezani “enjoyed a life of luxury in London”, which was provided by those interested in oil contracts in Nigeria.
Healy said Alison-Madueke was given high-end properties and luxury goods by people who believed that she would use her influence to favour them for oil contracts.
The prosecutor said Kolawole Aluko, another Nigerian businessman, who is named in one charge but is not standing trial, spent more than two million pounds on items for Alison-Madueke at Harrods, a UK-based luxury store.
