Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has accused UK authorities of damaging her reputation during a failed prosecution that she said left her traumatised.
Alison-Madueke was cleared of bribery charges at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday after a long-running investigation by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).
Speaking to the BBC, she said the 13-year probe “could have been handled a lot differently.”
“I’ve not been allowed to travel. I’ve not been allowed to work. They destroyed my reputation and my integrity,” Alison-Madueke said.
The court found her not guilty of five counts of accepting bribes and conspiracy to commit bribery following a trial that began in 2023.
Alison-Madueke, who served as Nigeria’s oil minister from 2010 to 2015 and became the first female president of OPEC, said the case had taken a heavy personal toll.
“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 added.
