Court documents:
In June 2026, a London jury cleared former Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke of all bribery charges against her following a protracted 13-year investigation and a fraught five-month trial. Holding one of the most powerful ministerial positions in former President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet between 2010-2015, Alison-Madueke oversaw the Nigerian oil industryat a time when $20 billion in oil profits were reported to the Nigerian Senate as having “leaked”from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company.
The UK’s National Crime Agency began their investigation into Alison-Madueke in 2013, whilst she was a sitting minister in Nigeria, which culminated in her arrest two years later. In 2023, the Crown Prosecution Service charged her with five counts of accepting bribes under the Bribery Act 2010 and one count of conspiring to commit bribery.
The prosecution’s case against Alison-Madueke narrowly focused on her ‘life of luxury’ in London between 2011 – 2015, which was alleged to have been bankrolled by Nigerian oil tycoons. They argued that the former minister accepted an array of bribes – including designer goods from Louis Vuitton and Loro Piana; the use of luxurious properties; and flights on private jets – from a host of oil businesspeople.
The former minister denied accepting some of these advantages, while arguing that those she did accept were either ministerial or personal expenses and were reimbursed. The defence raised many evidential issues against the prosecution, highlighting the challenges faced by law enforcement in conducting cross-border investigations into political elites.
Ultimately, the five-month trial ended with the jury acquitting Alison-Madueke and her co-defendants: her older brother and archbishop at a pentecostal church, Doye Agama and oil industry insider, Olatimbo Ayinde. The verdict was received by civil society as a blow to anti-corruption efforts, with fears it will be used to deflect accountability efforts in Nigeria, including civil asset forfeiture proceedings.
