Bribery: Glencore has settled with Nigeria, to pay $50m penalty, says FG

The federal government says Glencore, a British mining and trading group, is expected to pay Nigeria a $50 million penalty for bribery. 

Lateef Fagbemi, the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, made the disclosure in Abuja on Friday during the ministerial sectoral update for the present administration.

He said the resolution was reached after the federal government entered a settlement agreement with the firm.

“The ministry on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on April 25, 2024, concluded negotiation of a settlement agreement with Glencore International A.G. wherein Glencore is expected to pay the sum of $50 million as penalty and compensation for certain activities in Nigeria,” he said.

THE GLENCORE TRAGEDY

In May 2022, the United States department of justice said Glencore, and its United Kingdom subsidiaries, entered into multiple agreements to purchase crude oil and refined petroleum products from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) through shady deals.

In Nigeria alone, the department said Glencore and its subsidiaries paid more than $52 million to the intermediaries, intending that those funds be used, at least in part, to pay bribes to Nigerian officials.

In the same month, Glencore agreed to pay about $1.5 billion in total to resolve investigations in the US, United Kingdom and Brazil — of which $1.06 billion was payable to agencies in the US and Brazil. 

A London court, In November 2022, ordered Glencore to pay a $310.6 million (£276.4 million) penalty for seven bribery offences in relation to its oil operations in Africa.

Glencore had pleaded guilty to five counts of bribery in relation to a total of $26.9 million, which was paid “primarily to officials in state-owned oil companies” in Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Nigeria.

The company also admitted to two charges of failing to prevent bribery over payments of approximately $1 million to agents in Equatorial Guinea and South Sudan, to secure “valuable oil contracts”.

When Nigeria, in October 2022,  tried to claim compensation from the British mining and trading group, a UK judge ruled that the nation did not have the right to be heard.

FAGBEMI: NIGERIA TO RECEIVE £2.1M FROM BAILIWICK OF JERSEY

Speaking further, Fagbemi said Nigeria is set to receive about £2.1 million in corruption proceeds from the Bailiwick of Jersey.

“The ministry achieved the following successes under its international asset recovery and management efforts,” he said.

“The asset sharing agreement between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Bailiwick of Jersey was signed in February 2024 for the return of £2,125,944 proceeds of corruption.”

Fagbemi said the proceeds have been approved by President Bola Tinubu to continue works on the Abuja-Kano road project.