Diezani walks free: UK court acquits her of all bribery charges

So the news broke yesterday that the UK court has acquitted Diezani Alison-Madueke of all six bribery charges she was facing. This is the same former Minister of Petroleum Resources who served under President Goodluck Jonathan between 2010 and 2015, the first woman to become president of OPEC. The jury at Southwark Crown Court in London spent over 46 hours deliberating before returning a verdict of not guilty on all counts, including five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

Diezani's reaction was something else. She said the trial was traumatic for her, her family and friends who stood by her. But then she said, and I quote: "God go always do as God go do, and God go be God. God no be man wey e go lie. So wen e promise you somtin, e go do am." She also thanked God and said she did her job to the best of her ability. Her brother Doye Agama and oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde were also acquitted of related charges.

This is a serious blow to the British authorities who spent over ten years investigating this case. Whether you believe she was innocent or not, the fact remains that the UK justice system could not prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. But the question that lingers for me is this: what does this mean for the billions of dollars in oil revenues that went missing under her watch? The court may have cleared her of bribery, but the stench of mismanagement and corruption in our petroleum sector remains.