Hunt: Nigerian police are looking for people who may have received bribes related to an alleged corruption case in the US
Nigerian police probe corruption claim
Nigerian anti-corruption police officials are working to uncover who allegedly received $6 million in bribes from a US oil services executive who has been indicted in the US, the head of the force said today.
US prosecutors have accused Jason Steph, a former manager at Willbros Group, and others of bribing Nigerian officials between 2003 and 2005 to help the Houston-based company secure a $387 million contract to build a gas pipeline.
Nuhu Ribadu, chairman of Nigeria's Economic & Financial Crimes Commission, said it was co-operating with US law enforcement agencies on the case.
"You will definitely see the outcome of our own investigations and if it means there will be indictments in Nigeria then so be it, there will be. It's very likely," he said.
The US indictment alleges bribes went to unnamed officials from the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the government, the ruling People's Democratic Party and a Nigerian arm of Shell.
Ribadu said he was "elated" about the Willbros case and other US probes into companies doing business in Nigeria, Reuters reported.
"There are several companies that we know are being investigated by the US government under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which is a very big and welcome development," he said.