President Yar’Adua

Nigeria is contemplating some legal battles to redeem its image and get some $5billion (about N730 billion) damages from companies involved in bribery scandals in the country, it was learnt yesterday.
Oil services company Halliburton and telecommunications firm Siemens have been indicted by courts in the United States and Germany for bribing Nigerian officials.

Apparently buoyed by these court verdicts, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Michael Aondoakaa is taking the fight to the home countries of the companies and many others, which identities were not disclosed yesterday.

He is expected to leave for Britain tonight to prepare the ground for the coming legal battles.

The minister has the backing of President Umaru Yar’Adua in his crusade. He is believed to have written to him on the need for the venture.

The trip will enable him perfect plans for filing the court cases, it was learnt. The action may begin in three months, sources said last night. The legal battles may be fought mainly in two countries – United States and Germany.

Aondoakaa, it was learnt, sent a memo to the President, stating that Nigeria has suffered on three fronts over the scandals.

Nigeria, the minister said, is perceived as corrupt, its citizens humiliated abroad.

Besides, he said, Nigerians are discriminated against. The country, according to him, also suffers economic and financial losses.

Aondoakaa is working with a team of lawyers Damien Dodo (SAN), Mahmud Belgore (SAN) and M.F. Ambery – on the initiative.

The lawyers will work with others in United States, Germany and any other country where the legal battles will be fought.

On October 4, 2007, a German court indicted Siemens for large-scale bribery to win multi-billion dollar contracts in Nigeria and about 15 other countries. Siemens was fined $14million for the offence.

The court named four former telecommunications ministers as beneficiaries of the bribe. A senator and some bureaucrats were also named.

They were said to have shared over 10 million euros bribe.

Two Siemens officials – Seidel and Gilbert – paid 500,000euros bribe to a minister in 2002. The minister collected another 70,000 euros in May 2004.

His colleague got 550,000 euros and 150,000euros on July 8, 2002 and August 28, 2003.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator and bureaucrats got 185,000 euros.

Due to public outcry, the Yar’Adua administration blacklisted Siemens, but it later quietly reversed itself by relisting the firm among its contractors.

Last year, Halliburton fired its executive Albert Stanley for bribing senior Nigerian government officials over $180million.

The bribes were used to win a contract to build a liquefied-natural-gas plant in the country.

Stanley alleged that the bribe was paid through two agents to enable Halliburton win a $6billion contract.

The contract was for the building of a facility on Bonny Island in Rivers State to cool natural gas until it turns into liquid and can be transported on thermos-like tankers.