A former Petroleum Ministry official in Nigeria, Grace Taiga, has been charged with accepting bribes and failing to follow protocol over a disputed gas deal by the country’s anti-fraud office.
Taiga, former petroleum ministry director of legal, pleaded not guilty in a court in Abuja to eight counts of wrongdoing put forward by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC alleges Taiga accepted bribes, made false statements and signed the contract without approval from the federal executive council and Bureau of Public Procurement.
According to a Reuters report, the court documents have the EFCC also alleging that the now-deceased former petroleum minister Rilwanu Lukman broke the law by signing a deal without proper approvals and protocol.
The charges revolve around a 2010 contract with the firm of Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID) to build and operate a gas-processing plant in the southeastern port city of Calabar.
The complaint alleges she received $1,000 in 2015 and payments of $10,000 in each of December 2017 and June 2018 as a reward for favors to P&ID. Taiga was remanded to prison until her bail application is determined on September 25(today).
The Nigerian government and the firm entered into international arbitration after the deal collapsed. Arbitration eventually led to a $6.6 billion award for P&ID. It has been accruing interest since 2013 and is now worth more than $9 billion.
The Reuters report said that the government claims that the deal was designed to fail and called the award “an assault on every Nigerian and unfair.”
P&ID said the EFCC had harassed, intimidated and denied due process to individuals associated with the company and the contract.