A London court cleared former Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke of all bribery charges on Thursday following a high-profile trial.
The jury at Southwark Crown Court found the sixty-five-year-old politician not guilty of five counts of accepting luxury bribes.
The verdict marks a significant setback for the National Crime Agency, which pursued the prominent African leader for thirteen years.
Defence lawyers successfully argued that crucial documents proving her innocence vanished within Nigeria, severely undermining the prosecution’s complex case.
They further criticized the broken British justice system for the prolonged delay in finally bringing these allegations to a courtroom.
Jurors also acquitted the former minister’s brother and a prominent oil executive of related conspiracy and foreign bribery charges.
Alison-Madueke previously made history as the first female president of OPEC and the first female board member at Shell.
She defended her reputation fiercely in court, describing herself as a strict anti-corruption advocate nicknamed “Madam due process” by colleagues.
The politician suggested her rapid ascent within a highly patriarchal society made her a prime target for powerful political enemies.
Prosecutors alleged that wealthy oil tycoons funded her lavish UK lifestyle in exchange for lucrative state-backed oil contracts.
However, the state failed to prove a direct link between the oil executives’ spending and the awarding of contracts.
The curtain falls on a decade-long legal saga, leaving the reputation of Africa’s former oil queen remarkably intact.