By Felix Olukayode
Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been acquitted of all bribery charges by a United Kingdom court, bringing to an end a high-profile corruption case that attracted international attention.
A jury at Southwark Crown Court in London returned not guilty verdicts on all six counts against the former minister on Wednesday after more than 46 hours of deliberations, according to Reuters.
British prosecutors had accused Alison-Madueke of accepting bribes and conspiring to commit bribery, alleging that she received luxury benefits from oil and gas industry figures seeking favourable treatment and lucrative contracts in Nigeria’s petroleum sector. They claimed the benefits funded what they described as “a life of luxury” in London.
Alison-Madueke consistently denied the allegations throughout the trial, maintaining that she neither accepted bribes nor exercised direct control over the award of government contracts. The acquittal brings to a close one of the most closely watched international corruption cases involving a former Nigerian public official.