PRESS STATEMENT 12TH APRIL 2009
HALLIBURTON SCAM
MONEY LAUNDERED NOT TRAPPED
‘The judgment in US is under seal. And you are talking as if we are the people that sealed the names in the court. So you can’t get the names except the US government released them under classified information. And you are talking as if the President has the names. All these names you get, let me make it clear to you, government does not prosecute out of newspaper cuttings.
If somebody said I voted $40m for you, which is his own wish and if the money does not reach you, can I come and prosecute you because in his book he wrote $40m?
There must be evidence that must be tendered to show that money was handed over to you. Is it wire transfer? Is it through somebody?’-----Chief Michael Aondoakaa, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
Conference of Nigeria Political Parties {CNPP} wishes to state unequivocally, that President Umaru Musa Yaradua and his Attorney-General and Minister of Justice are economical with the truth and too soft on the war against corruption since the inception of the regime and in this instance, the monumental Halliburton Nigeria LNG scam; for our investigation shows clearly that the $150m found in the Swiss Bank is not trapped but laundered with names of the bonafide Nigerian owners.
Further to shield and protect the looters, the regime did not mention the over $ 30m that was distributed in Nigeria, just like those who were named and not under seal in the Siemen scandal have not been prosecuted up-to-date. Instead Siemen was rewarded with more juicy contracts running into billions of Naira.
The Department of Justice of the US stated clearly that, ‘ Kellogg, Brown and Root {KBR} pleaded guilty to conspiring with its joint-venture partners and others to violate the FCPA by authorizing, promising and PAYING bribes to a range of Nigerian government officials, including officials of the executive branch of Nigerian government, NNPC officials and NLNG officials.
Stanley also admitted that, at crucial junctions before the award of the EPC contracts, he and others met with three successive former holders of a top-level office in the executive branch of the Nigerian to ask of the office holder to DESIGNATE a representative with whom the joint-venture should negotiate bribes to Nigerian government officials.
In addition Stanley pleaded guilty to a conspiracy count relating to a mail and wire fraud scheme to defraud his former employer and others.’
Whereas the Department of Justice and Security and Exchange Commission of the US are committed to aggressively enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act {FCPA} and holding violators of their laws accountable when they engage in illegal conduct; President Yaradua regime is busy rationalizing inefficiency and gross corruption.
Otherwise, while Halliburton, because of the indemnity has agreed to pay $402 million in criminal fines to the Department of Justice; the Yaradua regime romances corrupt barons and looters of our common wealth, thus violating Section 15 of the Constitution and other extant laws.
President Yaradua has all the details, names of the principal culprits and their agents, it is not by newspaper cuttings, but granite evidence gathered by the regime from source. Mr President is only trapped by his second term ambition, as a top member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party {PDP}, leads the hall of infamy of Halliburton beneficiaries.
We shall disclose the names in the days ahead, if President Yaradua continues to shield the names and fail to commence their prosecution. The tragedy is that all the time the looters head or tail wins, while Nigerians loose and the crisis in the Niger Delta festers; because of their unholy alliance with the PDP leadership.
Consequently, we challenge President Yaradua to name the culprits forthwith, as only full disclosure and prompt prosecution will REBRAND the poor image of the regime and by extension REBRAND the poorimage country.
Osita Okechukwu
National Publicity Secretary
CNPP
