IKECHUKWU EZE and ALEX ECHIEJINA
After initial foot-dragging, the official investigation aimed at determining the involvement of Nigerian officials in the Halliburton bribery scandal has begun. IKECHUKWU EZE and ALEX ECHIEJINA write that until those involved are exposed and duly punished, the anti-corruption stance of the Yar’Adua administration would continue to raise doubts, especially against the backdrop of widespread corruption scandals.
It is evident that the last may not have been heard about the Halliburton bribery scandal in Nigeria. So far, it seems a lot is now happening by way of official probe and the bid to fish out and punishthose fingered in the sleazy scandal. But whether Nigerians are happy with the pace and scale of investigations is a situation that would unravel with time.
There is no doubt that bits and pieces from abroad of what is increasingly becoming the mother of all corruption cases in Nigeria have provoked strident calls for the prosecution of indicted Nigerian officials.
Following the unrelenting calls for the prosecution of those involved in the scam the government recently set up a committee with membership comprising the EFCC boss Farida Waziri, the Inspector General of Police Mike Okiro, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister for Justice Michael Aondokaa, representatives of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Director General, States Security Services (SSS) to thoroughly investigate the matter.
Many feel however, that President Umaru Yar’Adua may have rekindled people’s hope and expectation of justice in the matter with his recent assurance that his administration would not shield those involved, no matter their placing in the society. The President also called for patience from Nigerians on the issue, saying his administration is waiting for the “authentic” facts, as currently sealed by a US Court, so that those involved in the scandal would not turn around to accuse the government of political persecution.
Last week, the committee ordered the police to investigate many personalities including a former Chief of Air Staff, Abdul Dominic Bello and a former Permanent Secretary Ibrahim Aliyu, all in connection with the matter. Ibrahim Aliyu, the elder brother to Niger State Governor, Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu was last week released on bail from police custody over corruption investigations. Aliyu was the Permanent Secretary in the Ministries of Police Affairs and Industry, and was also Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank in the 1980’s and early 1990’s.
Perhaps the heightened attention the scandal is receiving again in the country after what looked like initial inertia is being bolstered by unending and relentless investigations in other countries. Last week Tuesday, the United States prosecutors launched extradition proceedings against a Briton, Jeffrey Tesler, who was alleged to be the key figure and linkman in the international bribery scandal involving contracts for the construction and expansion of the Nigeria
Liquefied Natural Gas Plant (NLNG) in Bonny, Rivers State. After more than five years of investigations covering half a dozen countries, Tesler was arrested early this year at the behest of US authorities and accused of being the “bagman” who conveyed the $180 million bribe to the Nigerian officials.
It is instructive that Jeffery Tesler, a London Based Consultant had for three decades been the personal adviser of many Nigerian businessmen, military officers and politicians while also serving as a consultant to many firms operating within the country.
The latest move by the US coincided with the questioning and detention of two key witnesses by the investigative panel set up by the federal government to unearth those involved in the Halliburton bribery scandal.
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The Halliburton bribery tale has been a worrisome issue since it broke in 2003, following an investigation of Kellog, Brown and Root, KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary, overpayments to a range of high profile Nigerian government officials and politicians, including those of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigerian Liquefied and Natural Gas (NLNG). The sum of $180 million was involved over a contract estimated at nearly $7 billion to win the contract for the construction of the LNG plant in Bonny, River State. The bribe allegedly spanned the period from 1995 when the nearly $7 billion contract was awarded to 2004 and possibly beyond. KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary that got the job, was part of a four-company joint venture on the project. The company had already pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a fine of $520 million.
Business Day gathered that there are severe pressure on the Mike Okiro’s led panel from prominent Nigerians, including politicians and traditional rulers to whittle down its all-out stance in the bid to go after those fingered in the scam irrespective of position or standing.
This has however heightened speculation and doubts about the capability of concerned authorities to prosecute those fingered, especially the powerful and influential citizens among them.
“This Halliburton scandal is one of many ongoing corruption scandals that the Nigerian Government is yet to adequately address,” says Ngwu Onoja, a Lagos-based lawyer. Onoja lamented in an interview with Business Day that corruption had continued to fester in the country because of apparent lack of will by the nation’s leadership to set the laws in motion.
He cited the recent upsurge of corruption scandals in different institutions including the National Assembly, energy and power sectors as well as within financial institutions as evidence of how “an unwilling administration in the cause of corruption emboldens men of sleaze to take the centre stage.”
“For instance, the scandal that has since got hold of the nation’s decrepit power sector shows that all the recent noise about public investigations and probes carried out by the National Assembly last year was just mere diversion.”
It would be recalled that the Ndudi Elumelu-led Power Committee in the House of Representatives’ of the National Assembly alleged that over $16 billion dollars was spent on the Integrated Power Project during the last administration of President Obasanjo. It was stated in the over celebrated committee’s report that such an amount was spent without any major improvement in that sector.
Interestingly, Elumelu the embattled Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Power and nine others, were arraigned before Justice Abimbola Banjoko at the FCT High Court, Abuja, on a 157-count charge for alleged criminal breach of trust over rural electrification projects involving billions of naira.
The health care corruption scandal which brought down the former Minister of Health, Adenike Grange and the Siemens corruption scandal in which a German court fingered five Nigerians for their roles are just but a few of the corruption scandals that had given the country a negative image abroad.
Undoubtedly, the Halliburton scandal has done incalculable damage to Nigeria in the perception of the international community. It depicts the nation as a place investors cannot do decent business without bribing government officials who are all too willing to compromise national interest for personal aggrandizement.
Chairman, Senate committee on Information, Ayogu Eze told Business Day recently that in view of the Halliburton case, the National Assembly had played its constitutional part which only allows it to expose corruption and malfeasance while the prosecuting authority lies with the executive.
Eze stated that the lawmakers are satisfied that the investigation they triggered off is yielding fruits, especially with the level of interest it has generated locally. “We will be delighted if those that are indicted are eventually prosecuted.”
Biodun Abere, a public affairs commentator says that the challenge for the current government is to clean this mess. “It is also a challenge for the re-branding exercise of the government. Clearly the world is watching to see how Nigeria handles the Halliburton bribe scandal.
They need to be reassured that ours is not necessarily a nation of all bribe takers.
“The success of this task can conveniently be considered as a key milestone which can be instrumental to the redemption of Nigeria’s battered image and truly portraying us as the good people of a great nation.”
