Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been acquitted of all six bribery charges brought against her at Southwark Crown Court in London.

Alison-Madueke, who served under former President Goodluck Jonathan between 2010 and 2015, had faced five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. She pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Prosecutors alleged that she received luxury benefits in London from oil and gas executives seeking lucrative contracts in Nigeria. However, Alison-Madueke denied receiving any bribes and maintained that she had no direct influence over the award of government contracts.

After more than 46 hours of deliberation, the jury returned not guilty verdicts on all six charges.

Also acquitted were oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde, who faced bribery-related charges, and Alison-Madueke’s brother, Doye Agama, who was charged with conspiracy to commit bribery over alleged payments to his church.