UK jury clears ex-Nigeria oil minister on 6 bribery counts
Why it matters: The verdict ends a more than decade-long British corruption case against one of Nigeria’s best-known former officials.
A London jury found former Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke not guilty on six bribery charges after a trial at Southwark Crown Court. Prosecutors had accused Alison-Madueke, 65, of accepting luxury home stays, travel and shopping from oil and gas executives seeking contracts while she led Nigeria’s petroleum ministry from 2010 to 2015. The jury deliberated for more than 46 hours before acquitting her of five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. Olatimbo Ayinde was also cleared, and the BBC reported Alison-Madueke’s brother Doye Agama was acquitted on a conspiracy charge. The verdict is a setback for the UK National Crime Agency after an investigation that stretched for more than a decade.