The SFO has charged five individuals - Alex Beard, Andrew Gibson, Paul Hopkirk, Ramon Labiaga, and Martin Wakefield - with conspiring to make corrupt payments to benefit Glencore's oil operations in West Africa, including bribing NNPCL officials.
The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has commended the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for prosecuting five former Glencore officials who allegedly made corrupt payments to facilitate their operations in West Africa.
The anti-corruption watchdog is now urging Nigeria's Federal Attorney General, Lateef Fagbemi, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to take similar action against all current and former Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) staff who accepted bribes from Glencore, despite the company's agreement to pay a $50 million penalty for illegal activities in Nigeria.
The SFO has charged five individuals - Alex Beard, Andrew Gibson, Paul Hopkirk, Ramon Labiaga, and Martin Wakefield - with conspiring to make corrupt payments to benefit Glencore's oil operations in West Africa, including bribing NNPCL officials.
ANEEJ's Executive Director, Rev. David Ugolor, has urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to take swift action in response to the prosecution of Glencore officials.
He called for the exposure of NNPCL officials, both serving and retired, who received millions of pounds in bribes, in order to restore Nigeria's reputation in the international community.
He said, “We are glad to know that the SFO of the United Kingdom yesterday charged five former staff of Glencore with conspiring to make corrupt payments in order to benefit commodities giant Glencore’s oil operations in West Africa.
“This is a welcome development and we are calling on the Federal Government of Nigeria to follow suit by pressing charges against those who collected the bribe in line with the UNCAC principles for which Nigeria is a signatory and the anti-corruption stance of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
“Specifically, we want the EFCC to investigate the matter and bring all those who received the bribe money from Glencore officials and press charges against them.”
He further stated that “since it takes two to tango in corruption, we also want know and see the faces of Nigerians who collected the bribe money just as the UK government has exposed those who gave”.
“It is important to hold high office holders accountable to stop grand corruption that has precipitated massive poverty in Nigeria. The action of the yet to be named Nigerian officials contributed to the poverty in Nigeria today for which millions of citizens are out protesting against bad governance,” he added.
Five former Glencore employees have been charged in connection with the awarding of oil contracts in Cameroon, Nigeria, and the Ivory Coast between 2007 and 2014.
Additionally, two individuals face charges related to the falsification of invoices sent to Glencore's London office, purporting to be service fees for a Nigerian oil consultancy between 2007 and 2011.
The case will proceed to Westminster Magistrates' Court for a further hearing on Tuesday, September 10th at 10am.
In May 2022, Glencore entered a guilty plea and settlement with authorities in the US, UK, and Brazil, admitting to foreign bribery and price manipulation.
The company acknowledged paying over $100 million in bribes to government officials in multiple countries, including Nigeria, through various subsidiaries, middlemen, and intermediaries, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). As a result, a UK court imposed a fine of £276.4 million on Glencore for bribing Nigerian officials to secure advantageous crude oil trading contracts.