A former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has said her acquittal on bribery charges has ended years of “unjust vilification”.
Alison-Madueke was acquitted by the Southwark Crown Court in London, United Kingdom (UK), of all six charges after hours of deliberation on Wednesday.
The former minister’s bribery allegations started when she was first arrested in London in October 2015, just months after leaving office as a cabinet member, but was later released on bail.
Diezani’s trial began in January after the UK government charged her in August 2023 over an alleged £100,000 bribe.
UK prosecutors accused the former minister of accepting bribes in the form of luxury goods and use of high-level properties from industry figures in return for awarding multi-million-pound oil and gas contracts during her time in office.
Alison-Madueke’s counsel told the jury that she had limited control over oil contract approvals during her time in office, as most decisions were made before reaching her desk.
Reacting to the verdict in a video, the former minister thanked God and all those who stood by her during the trial, describing the experience as “arduous” and “traumatic”.
“I’m just thankful to God. It’s been a very, very arduous and long, almost 11 years. It’s been traumatic not just for me but for my family, for friends, for all those who have stayed and supported, for my 93-year-old mother in Port Harcourt, for my son, and for all those who love us, friends and family. We’re surrounded by friends here. So it has been a hard journey,” she said.
“But I tell you this, God will always do as God wills, and God will be God. God is not a man that he should lie. So when he promises you something, he will see it through.
“It has been almost 11 years I’ve been here. I did my job to the best of my ability, but like I said, God is not a man that he should lie. God is God, and we thank him.”
Also, in a statement issued by Bolouere Opukiri, her representative, Alison-Madueke said “a decade of unrelenting and unjust vilification, condemnation, and scrutiny has finally concluded”.
“I give thanks to Almighty God for His faithfulness and for the complete vindication I have received. I am grateful to my legal counsel for their diligence and to my family and friends for their steadfast support and encouragement throughout this period,” the statement reads.
“I am profoundly relieved. My name has been cleared, and this ordeal has come to an end.”
Allison-Madueke said she would speak about the events of the past decade and her future plans “in due course” but, in the meantime, would focus on embracing what she described as the freedom she had been unjustly denied for many years.