Buhari may go after IBB, Abdulsalami, Jubril Aminu

There are indications that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government may soon initiate investigations into the infamous Siemens and Halliburton bribe scandals in which a number of prominent Nigerians including former military heads of state, Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar and Senator Jubril Aminu were accused of having collected bribes to award multi-million dollar contracts to the two foreign companies.

The hint was dropped in Abuja by Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami, who revealed, that the government has not closed any criminal case being investigated in the country, technically raising the potential to bring to trial those mentioned in the Siemens and Halliburton scandals.

Malami, who made the disclosure in an interview in Abuja, also dismissed claims in some quarters that President Buhari was afraid of taking on the Halliburton and Siemens cases because the key suspects were top military leaders.

Already, other suspects in the two cases from the United States and Germany have been jailed, while Halliburton was also made to pay a heavy fine, but nothing has been heard of suspects from Nigeria involved in the scandal, in which Nigeria is believed to have lost at least $182 million in the Halliburton corruption case alone.

But Malami said Buhari is not a man afraid to do what is right in the overall best interest of Nigerians whom he had sworn to defend and protect.

The minister said those who had jumped to the erroneous conclusion that the major corruption scandals had been swept under the carpet should note that the present administration had zero tolerance for corruption and would, therefore, not close any criminal case.

He however stated that the government in pursuing cases of corruption in the country would be guided by the rule of law and available evidence.

According to him,”No extraneous influence can influence our actions as we move to fight corruption in all its ramifications. To be noted also is the clear fact that no criminal case can be closed once the facts are handy regardless of who is involved.”

In 2003, it was revealed that Kellogg Brown & Root, a company eventually acquired by international conglomerate Halliburton, gave about $180 million in bribes to Nigerian officials. By 2007, Halliburton admitted guilt and agreed to pay $492 million dollars in fines to the United States government for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Read also: The problem with Nigeria, –Buhari

Then US Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders said in 2010, that information on the Halliburton issue was available to the Nigerian government, and that it could act on it if it deemed fit. Others mentioned in connection to the scandal included, Ibrahim Aliyu, Dan Etete, Jackson Gaius Obaseki, Aliyu Gusau, Orji Kalu and Don Etiebet among others.

In October, 2007, a German court indicted Siemens and fined the company $14million for offering Nigerian officials bribes. Four former Federal Communications Ministers, a PDP Senator, and other senior federal officials were identified as being involved in the bribes scandal. Similarly, pending further investigations, Halliburton fired its Chief Executive for the involvement of its agents in the bribes scandal.

A Munich State Court in Germany found the ministers and others liable of receiving £8.6 million (12 million euros) in bribes from the telecoms giant in Nigeria, Libya and Russia. Those mentioned in the scam were Major-General Tajudeen Olanrewaju, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, Dr. Bello Mohammed, and the late Alhaji Haruna Elewi – all former Communication ministers. Senator Jibril Aminu, a former Petroleum Resources minister, and David Osakwe Oyegun, then Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications, were also named by the court.

But so far, no Nigerian has been successfully prosecuted, or punished for their role in the scandals.

 

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