Mkpoikana Udoma Port Harcourt — The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, has lauded the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, for levying three-count bribery and tax-related charges against Mr Paulinus Iheanacho Okoronkwo, a former General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in a court in California, United States.
This follows the discovery by the FBI that Mr Okoronkwo utilised his position within the NNPC upstream department to illicitly obtain at least $2.1 million in bribes from Addax Petroleum. Recent reports indicated that Addax Petroleum, under the ownership of Sinopec and based in Switzerland, allegedly offered bribes totalling $5,263,157.89 to Mr Okoronkwo, including an immediate payment of $2,105,263.16 in October 2015 in order to escape a $2.4billion liability in Nigeria.
Reacting to the development, Acting Executive Director of ANEEJ, Mr. Leo Atakpu, condemned the exploitation of Nigeria’s resources by individuals entrusted with positions of authority, which disproportionately affects the majority of citizens.
Atakpu expressed satisfaction with the development from the FBI, emphasizing that the United States, as the host of the December tenth Conference of State Parties on Anti-Corruption, was demonstrating its commitment to combatting corruption by meting out severe penalties.
“ANEEJ underscores the importance of international cooperation in combating illicit financial flows, which significantly undermine the economies of developing nations like Nigeria and contribute to global insecurity,” the group said.
ANEEJ further called for intensified efforts by the United States, Europe, and other global stakeholders to crack down on perpetrators of financial malfeasance.
Atakpu recalled that during COPS 10, ANEEJ engaged in discussions with US Government officials advocating for stricter sanctions against kleptocrats from Nigeria and other impoverished nations who exploit the US as a haven for laundering illicit finances.
“In light of the prevailing economic challenges facing Nigeria, exacerbated by corruption at the highest echelons of government, ANEEJ calls upon President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to redouble its efforts in the fight against corruption,” he stated.