Nigeria- President Muhammadu Buhari, has reopened the $182 million Halliburton bribery case with an aim to diligently prosecute all those involved in the scandal, TRIBUNE reports.
This follows requests from the United States government who says unless those involved were prosecuted, part of the bribe money, about $140 million, recovered and still in the US, would not be repatriated to Nigeria.
The American government’s report on the Halliburton bribery scandal had indicted three former Nigerian leaders, a former number two citizen, a minister, intelligence chiefs and corporate giants in the list of bribery beneficiaries.
Jeffry Tesler, who was the go-between in the payment of the bribes paid to secure the contract for the final phase of the multibillion naira Nationa Liquefied Natural Gas project was sentenced to 21 months in prison and forfeited $148.964 million from his Swiss accounts to the United States government.
Tribune says the case was investigated four years ago by a security panel headed by retired AIG Ahmadu Ali, who at the end of the case charged a former personal aide to a former Head of State to court but the case was later struck out due to lack of diligent prosecution.
With the moves to reopen this high profile Halliburton case , Nigerians with other forms of Corruption cases are now living under the canopy of Fear.
Their thinking is that if Halliburton case with personalities like ex-heads of state can be revisit with the aim of prosecuting those involved , nobody is free.
But the question , can Buhari successfully achieve the Halliburton result ?
Is Buhari doing it because he want to do it or because US ask him to do it?
If it is because is under his administration 's policy trust , then I see result coming.
If it just because he was asked to do it, then I see no genuine result .
All the same , God Bless Nigeria as I pray for Corruption reduction Nigeria.
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