Recover missing $32.5m Halliburton fine
About $32.5million recovered for the federal government by some senior lawyers in an out-of-court settlement of the Halliburton bribery scam has been declared missing from government’s coffers. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which recently raised the alarm over the alleged missing $32.5million said investigations into the matter had reached an advanced stage, adding […]
About $32.5million recovered for the federal government by some senior lawyers in an out-of-court settlement of the Halliburton bribery scam has been declared missing from government’s coffers. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which recently raised the alarm over the alleged missing $32.5million said investigations into the matter had reached an advanced stage, adding that those indicted would soon be charged to court.
The EFCC said the anti-graft agency was unable to locate $32.5million at the Central Bank of Nigeria. Neither is the amount also traceable at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, though the said amount was purportedly paid into federal government’s account. About five companies paid various sums as fines in line with the terms of the Settlement Agreement with the federal government. A breakdown of the payments include Julius Berger ($35m); Siemens (Euros 30m); Snamprogetti ($30m); Halliburton Energy Services ($32.5m); and Japan Gasoline Corporation ($26.5m). It is alleged that there is no record showing whether or not about $32.5million of these monies was remitted into the federal Government Consolidated Account.
The alleged missing $32.5million was part of the over $180million recovered by five senior lawyers for the federal government. This followed negotiations and out-of-court settlement on the Halliburton bribery scandal. The federal government had in December 2010 entered into an agreement to settle the Halliburton scam out of court. It would be recalled that the five senior lawyers led by the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN) were hired by the former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN) to negotiate on behalf of the Federal government.
A senior executive with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Mr. Roland Ewubare who was one of the lawyers involved in the out-of-court settlement with Halliburton has been given up to September 15, 2016 by the EFCC to submit a letter authorizing him by the federal government to open a private escrow account. Ewubare had told the EFCC that as the then Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), he acted in national interest in opening the escrow account. Although the account was opened in the name of the federal government, it was discovered to be a purely private account which was managed by Ewubare and undisclosed others as signatories.
The Halliburton bribery scandal dates back to 1994 when the Nigerian government launched the proposal to build the Bonny Island Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) project in Bonny, Rivers State. A British lawyer, Jeffry Tesler, served as the conduit through whom bribes of over $180m were paid to government officials and many others in order to win the $6 billion turnkey contract.
It is a bigger fraud that the money recovered through the out-of-court settlement is allegedly missing or untraceable. Although foreign companies and their top executives have been indicted in Europe and America, no Nigerian involved in the scam was ever jailed in the very country where the fraud took place. This is, in spite of the resources spent by government to investigate and reach an out-of-court settlement.
The anti-graft agency, the EFCC, should hasten to complete its investigations into the missing $32.5million and get those indicted prosecuted according to law. The alleged missing fund which is supposed to be in a dedicated account at the CBN must be returned to government. Money, which is not known to be a spirit, could not have been missing.
Besides the $32.5m which was recovered through out-of-court settlement and is now allegedly missing, all other funds looted from public treasury including the Abacha-loot of over $300m which a former minister of finance, Ngozi Okonja-Iweala, claims was paid to the Office of the National Security Adviser on the instructions of former President Goodluck Jonathan should be recovered. Nigerians are also waiting to hear from government what it plans to do with all the looted funds so far recovered.