The special panel set up to investigate the $180m Halliburton’s bribe scandal on Monday quizzed a former Director-General of the defunct National Security Organisation, Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi, and a former Minister of Petroleum, Chief Don Etiebet.

Inspector-General of Police, Mike Okiro

It also interrogated a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Funsho Kupolokun, who was also former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Special Assistant on Petroleum Matters.

The interrogation of the trio reportedly lasted for several hours at the Force Headquarters and was led by the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro.

Many high profile Nigerians have been quizzed by the panel set up last month on the orders of President Umaru Yar’Adua.

Public condemnation came in the wake of Federal Government’s seeming lack lustre posture over the saga against the international odium it had brought the country.

The panel had on Thursday quizzed a former Inspector-General of Police Alhaji M.D. Yusuf on the matter.

Yusuf had in 2005, appeared before a House of Representatives ad hoc committee chaired by Mr. Chudi Offodile, which investigated the matter.

A former Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice-Marshal A.D. Bello is said to have been in custody in the panel’s bid to get to the root of the scandal.

Also, three former Nigerian heads of states have been linked to the bribery, whose United States accomplices have been jailed.

It was gathered that more GMDs of NNPC would be quizzed.

But it is not yet known how the panel will quiz the former rulers whose names had been linked to the scandal.

The Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), had set up the five-member panel and given it eight weeks to complete its assignment.

Amid heightened debate on the $180m scam, the Federal Government declared that $150m had been traced to an unknown account in Zurich, Switzerland, and vowed not to leave any stone unturned to ensure the culprits were fished out and made to face the wrath of the law.

A Halliburton subsidiary, KBR, was said to have admitted to channeling bribes amounting to $180m to Nigerian government officials to secure the multi-billion naira contract involving the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas plant.

Former rulers, government officials and top members of a political party have been linked to the graft, which took place between 1993 and 2004, spanning three governments.

The affected governments were those of Generals Sani Abacha, Abdulsalami Abubakar and of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.