The Halliburton bribe cover-up
After one and a half years of dilly-dallying over the prosecution
of Nigerian beneficiaries of the $180million ‘Halliburton bribe,’ the federal
government last Wednesday confirmed the worst fear of many Nigerians that it
might not be ready to tackle corruption.
Jiti Ogunye, a human rights lawyer who commented on the decision
of the government to prosecute Bodunde Adeyanju, a former special assistant to
former President Olusegun Obasanjo for his involvement in the Halliburton
bribe, said the trial is an anti-climax.
“I think they are insulting Nigerians with what they are doing.
Let them come clean with Nigerians and say they cannot commit class suicide.
That ‘we cannot prosecute ourselves,’ since most of those involved are PDP
members. I think Nigerians will understand. I think that will be better than
engaging in this showmanship,” said Mr. Ogunye, who is also the President of
the Lawyers League for Human Rights.
When asked if the government would still prosecute more of the
recipients of the Halliburton bribe, Ambrose Momoh, the Chief Press secretary
to the Attorney General of the Federation stated that “I don’t have any
information about that. I can’t say if more people will be prosecuted.”
Find out how the bribery
case began and who the beneficiaries and perpetrators are in today’s NEXT on
Sunday Newspaper.
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