Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has accused authorities in the United Kingdom of destroying her reputation and integrity through a corruption case that lasted more than a decade before ending in her acquittal.
Speaking publicly for the first time after being cleared by a London court, the former minister described the 13-year investigation and prosecution as painful, traumatic and deeply damaging to her personal and professional life.
Alison-Madueke made the remarks during an interview with the BBC on Friday, two days after a jury at Southwark Crown Court in London found her not guilty of all charges brought against her by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).
The former minister had faced five counts of accepting bribes and conspiracy to commit bribery. Prosecutors alleged that she received benefits from businessmen involved in Nigeria’s oil sector in exchange for influence connected to government contracts.
However, after a lengthy trial, the jury acquitted Alison-Madueke, her brother, Doye Agamas, and oil industry executive Olatimbo Ayinde of all charges.
Reacting to the verdict, the former minister said the years of investigation had deprived her of basic freedoms and caused lasting emotional distress.
“I’ve not been allowed to travel. I’ve not been allowed to work. They destroyed my reputation and my integrity,” she told the BBC.
According to her, living under investigation for more than a decade had severe psychological consequences.
“When your freedom is taken away from you, it has a very deep impact upon you psychologically.
“I knew that I had never done anything nefarious and I had never done any of the heinous things I was being accused of doing,” she said.
The case against Alison-Madueke dates back to 2015 when she was first arrested by British authorities shortly after leaving office following the end of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. Despite the initial arrest, formal charges were not filed against her until 2023.
During the trial, prosecutors claimed that oil businessmen seeking to maintain favourable business relationships with the Nigerian government provided her with expensive gifts and benefits. These allegedly included luxury goods, chauffeur-driven vehicles and access to high-value properties in the United Kingdom.
The former minister consistently denied the allegations.
In the BBC interview, she argued that some documents that could have strengthened her defence had disappeared in Nigeria.
According to Alison-Madueke, the missing documents included receipts and records that would have shown that certain expenses paid on her behalf had later been reimbursed.
“Those items were taken away by our intelligence forces” from her residence in Abuja in 2015, she alleged.
She criticised both Nigerian and British authorities over the handling of the matter, saying mistakes were made throughout the process.
“There’s a bit of blame everywhere.
“The Nigerian authorities need to look into the processes and practices that they deploy in these cases,” she said.
She also urged international law enforcement agencies to be more sensitive when handling cases involving political figures, especially when investigations cross national borders.
“The long arm of the law when you go into other countries, particularly in politically motivated cases, needs to have a lot more sensitivity,” Alison-Madueke said.
The former minister further suggested that gender bias may have played a role in the attention she received.
“I was the first female to enter this sort of position as petroleum minister and as head of OPEC in a very misogynistic society,” she said.
Alison-Madueke served as Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources from 2010 to 2015 under President Goodluck Jonathan. During her tenure, she became the first woman to serve as president of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a position that elevated her profile within the global energy industry.
Her years in office, however, were overshadowed by allegations of corruption and mismanagement within Nigeria’s oil sector, which remains the country’s biggest source of foreign exchange earnings and government revenue.
Even after leaving office, her name continued to feature prominently in anti-corruption investigations both in Nigeria and abroad.
In 2023, the United States Department of Justice announced the recovery of about 53 million dollars in assets linked to two Nigerian oil businessmen who were also named during the UK investigation.
Although the asset recovery exercise drew international attention, Alison-Madueke said she was never given the opportunity to challenge the allegations because she had not been charged in relation to those proceedings.
“I was never given the opportunity to fight that because I wasn’t even charged,” she said.
She also questioned reports by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that it had recovered assets and properties allegedly linked to her.
“The assets that have been forfeited were not actually traced directly to me.
“I don’t know what has happened to these matters at all. It’s now that I’ll have the freedom to find out what exactly has gone on there,” she stated.
Her acquittal in the United Kingdom is likely to renew debate over several unresolved corruption cases connected to Nigeria’s oil industry and the effectiveness of international investigations involving politically exposed persons.
While supporters of the former minister see the verdict as proof that the allegations against her could not be substantiated in court, critics argue that questions surrounding the management of Nigeria’s oil wealth during her tenure remain unanswered.
For Alison-Madueke, however, the verdict marks the end of a legal battle that lasted more than 13 years.