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Nigerian court issues arrest warrant for head of ExxonMobil Nigeria - EFCC

Published 03/02/2021, 18:44
Updated 03/02/2021, 18:48

By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - A federal court in Abuja has signed
off on a warrant to arrest the head of oil major ExxonMobil in
Nigeria to compel him to appear before anti-graft investigators,
a statement for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) said on Wednesday.
The EFCC said it had sought the warrant after Richard Laing,
the managing director of ExxonMobil Nigeria, rebuffed three
invitations to appear before investigators probing alleged
procurement fraud involving a pipelines project.
Justice Okon Abang granted the EFCC's bench warrant
application on Jan. 29, the EFCC said. It has not charged Exxon
or others with wrongdoing, and its investigation is ongoing.
EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren told Reuters that the
investigation is into the company, and not Laing personally.
"EFCC invited them in the course of the investigation but
they have refused to honour the invitation, that is why we went
to court to compel his appearance for investigation," Uwujaren
said.
A spokesman for Exxon declined to comment. Laing did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
The EFCC said the investigation related to the alleged
fraudulent creation of procurement orders worth more than $213
million as part of a pipelines project.
Last year, Nigeria suspended EFCC head Ibrahim Magu after
the attorney general accused the agency of diverting funds that
had been recovered during investigations into graft.

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