Former Nigerian Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been acquitted of all six bribery charges brought against her in a high-profile corruption trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court.
The 65-year-old, who served under former President Goodluck Jonathan between 2010 and 2015, was cleared by a jury after more than 46 hours of deliberation on Wednesday.
Alison-Madueke had faced five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery but consistently denied any wrongdoing throughout the proceedings.
Prosecutors alleged that oil and gas industry figures provided her with a luxurious lifestyle in London in exchange for influence over lucrative contracts in Nigeria.
However, she maintained that she neither accepted bribes nor exercised direct control over the awarding of government contracts.
The verdict marks a major development in a case that had been under investigation by British authorities for more than a decade.
Also acquitted were oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde and Alison-Madueke’s brother, Doye Agama, who had faced related bribery and conspiracy allegations.
The not-guilty verdict brings an end to one of the most closely watched corruption trials involving a former Nigerian public official in the United Kingdom.