How NNPC funded 2015, 2019 elections – Bloomberg

How NNPC funded 2015, 2019 elections – – Lawsuits in London and New York have shed light on how fees that trading firms paid agents to win oil contracts from Nigeria’s state energy company may have raised funds for the country’s past two elections — that is, the 2015 and 2019 elections respectively.

 

President Muhammadu Buhari and his ruling All Progressives Congress retained power in the 2019 vote, having been voted in 2015 for first term when it defeated the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, who had run on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

How NNPC funded 2015, 2019 elections - Bloomberg
How NNPC funded 2015, 2019 elections

According to New York-based media, Bloomberg, an ex-BP Plc oil trader alleged last week that cargo allocations by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation could have contributed to preparations for general elections in 2019; while a former Glencore Plc employee in July had also admitted paying a middleman $300,000 to secure a crude shipment from the NNPC, understanding that the money would be spent on the nationwide vote that took place four years earlier.



A spokesman for the NNPC didn’t respond to three calls and three text messages seeking comment, Bloomberg says.

 

Jonathan Zarembok, who left BP’s West Africa desk last year, said in the suit that he suspected that fees paid by the U.K. energy giant to obtain NNPC contracts would go toward the 2019 elections. He filed an employment claim against BP, alleging that he was fired for raising concerns about the large sums being transferred to intermediaries to win business in Nigeria.

 

Zarembok said in a witness statement made public this month that emails sent in 2017 by a BP executive in Nigeria were a “clear red flag” and implied “there would be pressure to pay bribes.” The emails discussed how preparations for elections would get under way in 2018. “We understand what that means,” the executive wrote.

 

The company then wired $900,000 in fees to a local agent after securing two oil cargoes from NNPC, he said.



“BP is defending in full and denies all allegations made by the claimant,” the company said in a statement. It declined further comment while Zarembok’s case at a London employment tribunal continues.

 

“Presidential spokesmen didn’t respond to calls and emails seeking comment on Zarembok’s allegations,” the medium stated.

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