By Chimezie Godfrey
Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, the executive director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), is calling on the relevant Nigerian authorities to investigate and hold public officials accountable for accepting nearly $80 million in bribes from Glencore, a multinational mining and commodity trading company.
“Glencore has admitted that it paid bribes to Nigerian officials in connection with deals involving the purchase of oil and petroleum products from Nigeria’s state-owned company,” said Rafsanjani in a message in TI’s Newsletter in Berlin.
“It is time for Nigerian authorities to investigate these allegations and hold those responsible to account.”
Despite Glencore facing repercussions for bribery, public officials on the receiving end have not faced any consequences.
“The same can be said for over US$1billion paid in bribes by Eni and Royal Dutch Shell for the rights to the OPL 245 offshore oilfield, to members of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. Nigeria could lose as much as US$5 billion because of the questionably negotiated fiscal terms under the deal, in addition to the US$1.1bn that it already lost due to corrupt payments, according to Italian prosecutors.”
To ensure that government officials who demand for bribes are punished by the US, Transparency International’s Nigeria chapter and 10 other chapters of Transparency International are urging US lawmakers to adopt the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA) to support anti-corruption efforts in their countries.
“FEPA would provide a valuable tool to help countries like Nigeria combat corruption and hold their officials accountable for accepting bribes.
“We urge US lawmakers to pass this important legislation,” Rafsanjani said.
