Glencore to pay Nigeria $50m as penalty for bribery
By Innocent Raphael
The Federal Government has announced that Glencore, a British mining and trading conglomerate, will pay Nigeria a $50 million penalty following a bribery settlement agreement.
This disclosure was made by Lateef Fagbemi, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, during a ministerial sectoral update in Abuja on Friday.
Fagbemi explained that the resolution was reached after negotiations between the Federal Government and Glencore International A.G., culminating in the agreement on April 25, 2024.
“The ministry, on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, concluded a settlement agreement with Glencore International A.G., wherein Glencore is expected to pay $50 million as penalty and compensation for certain activities in Nigeria,” Fagbemi stated.
The Glencore Bribery Case
The case against Glencore dates back to May 2022 when the U.S. Department of Justice revealed that Glencore and its UK subsidiaries had engaged in corrupt practices involving the purchase of crude oil and refined petroleum products from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The department reported that Glencore and its subsidiaries paid over $52 million to intermediaries to bribe Nigerian officials.
In response to various international investigations, Glencore agreed to pay approximately $1.5 billion in penalties, with $1.06 billion allocated to U.S. and Brazilian authorities.
Also, in November 2022, a London court ordered Glencore to pay $310.6 million for seven bribery offenses related to its oil operations in Africa.
The company pleaded guilty to five counts of bribery, involving payments totaling $26.9 million to officials in state-owned oil companies in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria.
Glencore also admitted to failing to prevent bribery in Equatorial Guinea and South Sudan, amounting to about $1 million to secure valuable oil contracts.
Despite Nigeria’s attempt to claim compensation from Glencore in October 2022, a UK judge ruled that the country did not have the right to be heard.
International Asset Recovery
In his address, Fagbemi also announced that Nigeria is set to receive around £2.1 million in corruption proceeds from the Bailiwick of Jersey.
Disclosing that an asset-sharing agreement between Nigeria and Jersey was signed in February 2024, facilitating the return of £2,125,944 in corruption proceeds, he added that President Bola Tinubu has approved the use of these funds for ongoing works on the Abuja-Kano road project.
“The ministry achieved the following successes under its international asset recovery and management efforts”.
Fagbemi stated, highlighting the collaborative efforts to recover and repurpose assets for national development.
