Nigeria’s Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the federation, Lateef Fagbemi(SAN) disclosed Friday that global commodity trading giant, Glencore, is expected to pay Nigeria $50 million as penalty for engaging in certain illegal activities in Nigeria.
Fagbemi disclosed this on Friday at the Ministerial Sectoral Updates held at the National Press Centre, Radio House, Garki, Abuja.
Nairametrics previously reported that the trading giant, Glencore, was fined the sum of £276.4 million by a United Kingdom Court in 2022 for bribing Nigerian officials to gain favorable crude oil trading contracts.
Glencore’s UK energy trading unit had pleaded guilty to paying bribes to Nigerian and Cameroon officials between 2011 and 2016.
The conviction followed an investigation and prosecution by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office.
At the time, the company admitted sending bribes in private jets to Nigerian officials before the judgment.
Amid the development, Fagbemi revealed today at the event attended by Nairametrics analyst, that the ministry recently concluded negotiations with Glencore in which the latter agreed to pay compensation.
What he said,
“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 USD as penalty and compensation for certain activities in Nigeria.“
Asset Recovery, management, foreign contracts
Speaking further, Fagbemi said the ministry achieved successes under its international asset recovery, foreign contracts, and management efforts.
He said an 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.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu approved the utilization of the money for the continuation of works on the Abuja-Kano Road project.
He also recalled the landmark decision in an arbitration instituted against Nigeria by Process and Industrial Development Limited(P&ID), wherein a UK commercial Court set aside an arbitral award of over $11billion, granted against the Nigerian government in the United Kingdom for breach of a gas supply and processing agreement.
“Further to this, I am pleased to report that due to concerted efforts of our legal team Nigeria has been awarded interim costs in the sum £20Million against P&ID.
“Useful lessons have been learnt from this case, which had the potential of wiping off our entire foreign reserves,” Fagbemi said.
Ease of Doing Business
Fagbemi said the Justice ministry streamlined the guidelines for the incorporation of companies limited by guarantee, in its bid to stimulate economic growth.
“A total of 1,432 approvals for the registration of companies limited by guarantee was issued by my office in the last one year,” he said.
Fagbemi assured Nigerians that efforts are ongoing to ensure strategic reforms in various sectors of the country, saying the Ministry under his leadership will keep improving governance for effective service delivery.
More insights
The Federal Ministry of Justice is the legal arm of the Federal Government of Nigeria, primarily concerned with initiating lawsuits on government’s behalf.
The AGF is the chief law officer of the federation and also plays a huge role in reviewing and implementing policies.
The office of the FMOJ is connected to virtually all federal government ministries and agencies, especially in the area of laws, rules, and regulations.
Glencore plc is a Swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company with its headquarters in Baar, Switzerland.
