The investigation by the nation’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission comes after US authorities found those firms and others encouraged massive corruption within the troubled Nigerian Customs Service and elsewhere. The US cases uncovered that Shell and other oil firms paid millions of dollars in bribes to customs officials to circumvent import rules for offshore rigs, ships and other equipment coming into the nation’s notoriously slow ports.
However, officials in oil-rich Nigeria, a major source of easily refined crude for the US’ gasoline demand, have been slow to launch their own investigations into the allegations.
“It will always start from somewhere,” said Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for commission. “Since it started there, it is necessary for us to take actions on our own part. It is a different thing (than) if we have the information and we look the other way.” The requests to speak with Shell and Halliburton come from two different cases brought forward in the US under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. That law makes it unlawful for companies doing work in the US to bribe foreign government officials or company executives to secure or retain business.
The Halliburton case involves its former subsidiary KBR, a major engineering and construction services firm based in Houston. In February 2009, KBR pleaded guilty in US federal court to authorizing and paying bribes from 1995 to 2004 for contracts in Nigeria, an OPEC-member nation.
KBR split from Halliburton in 2007. It agreed to pay more than $400 million in fines in the plea deal.
In the Shell case, US authorities accused the oil firm of bribing Nigerian customs officials with $3.5 million to quickly process needed equipment for its offshore Bonga field. That field can provide Shell and its partner, the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., with 225,000 barrels of oil and 150 million cubic feet of gas a day.
As part of a US plea deal, Shell agreed to relinquish about $18 million in profits and interest. In addition, Shell Nigerian Exploration and Production Co. Ltd. agreed to pay a $30 million criminal fine.
Babafemi said Tuesday that his agency had been in contact with Halliburton and Shell, but did not know whether the top country officials will submit to questioning by investigators.
Shell spokesman Tony Okonedo said the company’s Nigerian subsidiary “will cooperate with any investigation local authorities will undertake,” but declined to comment further.
Halliburton officials could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.
Last week, anti-graft investigators raided Halliburton’s offices and arrested 12 employees, as well as 11 employees of a Panalpina World Transport (Holding) Ltd. subsidiary.
US court documents claim Panalpina bribed officials with $27 million from 2002 to 2007 in Angola, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Nigeria and Russia to bypass customs rules.
Those arrested included two expatriates working for Halliburton and four working for Panalpina, Babafemi said.
The spokesman said Tuesday all had been released on bail.
Shell and Halliburton aren’t the only companies accused in US court documents. Oil service firms Pride International Inc., Noble Corp., Transocean Inc. and GlobalSantaFe Corp., as well as shipping company Tidewater Inc., also were accused of bribing Nigerian officials.
Babafemi declined to say whether his agency would launch investigations into the other companies.
“We are not only alarmed by the fact that government officials are involved, but we are also alarmed by the rate at which multinational companies are coming to Nigeria to perpetrate this kind of crime,” Babafemi said.
Questions also remain over whether the customs officials who accepted the bribes will face charges or discipline.
Analysts and watchdog groups routinely label Nigeria as one of the world’s most corrupt countries, with officials from government ministers to local policemen shaking down bribes from passers-by and those hoping to do business in the country of 150 million people. The investigations also come after US authorities concluded their investigations and the companies involved made plea agreements.
Customs service spokesman Wale Adeniyi did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
