Alison-Madueke says anti-corruption efforts in oil sector made her enemies
Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has suggested that her efforts to confront corruption in Nigeria’s oil industry contributed to the legal and political challenges she faced after leaving office.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC following her acquittal in a UK bribery trial, Alison-Madueke said investigators failed to fully understand the realities of Nigeria’s oil sector and overlooked reforms she attempted to implement while serving as petroleum minister.
She argued that she became an easy target for allegations despite efforts to tackle entrenched interests within the industry.
“I wish they had taken a step back and looked with a little more depth at the actual truth of the situation on ground,” she said.
According to Alison-Madueke, some of the anti-corruption measures she pursued did not sit well with influential figures in the sector.
She also pointed to the challenges of operating in what she described as a male-dominated environment, noting that she was the first woman to serve as Nigeria’s petroleum minister and the first female president of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The former minister, who served under former President Goodluck Jonathan between 2010 and 2015, was acquitted by a jury at Southwark Crown Court of five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery after a trial that began in January.
Alison-Madueke also questioned the handling of evidence related to the case, alleging that documents she believes could have supported her defence disappeared after being removed from her Abuja residence in 2015.
She claimed the materials included receipts intended to show that certain payments made on her behalf had been reimbursed.
Asked who should bear responsibility for the collapse of the prosecution’s case, she responded that “there’s a bit of blame everywhere,” while calling for a review of investigative procedures in both Nigeria and foreign jurisdictions handling politically sensitive cases.
Her acquittal, alongside those of her brother, Doye Agama, and oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde, brought to a close one of the most closely watched corruption trials involving a former Nigerian public official in the United Kingdom.
