Diezani Alison-Madueke Accuses UK Of Destroying Her Reputation After Acquittal

Former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has accused British authorities of destroying her reputation and integrity after she was cleared of bribery charges in a London court, describing the 13-year investigation into her activities as "painful and traumatic".

Speaking in an interview with the BBC, Alison-Madueke said the prolonged investigation by the had significantly disrupted her life, limiting her freedom, career prospects and ability to travel.

"I've not been allowed to travel. I've not been allowed to work. They destroyed my reputation and my integrity," Alison-Madueke said.

"When your freedom is taken away from you, no matter how you try to handle it, it has a very deep impact upon you psychologically."

Alison-Madueke, Nigeria's first female Minister of Petroleum Resources and the first woman to serve as its president, said she believed her high-profile status made her an easy target for investigators.

"The NCA saw me as low-hanging fruit," she said.

She also argued that investigators failed to adequately consider the political and institutional realities that shaped her time in office, including her anti-corruption efforts within Nigeria's oil sector and the opposition she said she faced as a result.

"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.

"They should have taken a step back and looked with a little more depth at the truth of the situation on the ground."

The former minister maintained that she had always been innocent of the allegations.

"I have always maintained my innocence because I knew I had never done anything nefarious and had never committed any of the heinous things that were alleged," she said.

Her trial began in January after UK prosecutors charged her in August 2023 over allegations that she accepted bribes in the form of luxury goods and access to high-end properties from oil industry figures in exchange for awarding lucrative oil and gas contracts during her tenure as minister.

Alison-Madueke also claimed that evidence that could have supported her defence disappeared after it was seized from her Abuja residence in 2015.

"Those items were taken away by our intelligence forces from my home in Abuja in 2015," she said, referring to boxes of receipts she said showed that oil businessmen had been reimbursed for payments made on her behalf.

"I have no idea what happened to them."

Former President, who appointed Alison-Madueke as petroleum minister, told the court in a written statement that it was not unusual for third parties to make payments on behalf of ministers undertaking official duties abroad.

Asked who should be held responsible for the circumstances that led to the case, Alison-Madueke said responsibility was shared.

"There's a bit of blame everywhere," she said.

"The Nigerian authorities need to look into the processes and practices that they deploy in these cases."

The former minister faced the allegations alongside oil executive and her brother, . Both men were also cleared.