Negotiation Begins Between Nigeria Officials And Halliburton To Stop Dick Cheney's Nigerian Trial

Tweet

Nigerian officials led by the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, along with an array of lawyers of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) met in London over the weekend with Halliburton and KBR officials to discuss matters relating to the proposed trial in Nigeria of former US Vice President, Dick Cheney, for bribery allegations relating to Halliburton, the company he led before becoming VP.
Halliburton officials and those of KBR are proposing a "settlement" to resolve the widely embarrassing charges filed in Abuja last week seeking to commit Mr. Cheney to prison in Nigeria over his superintending of Halliburon in the 1990s, a period that saw the doling out of over $180 million in bribes to Nigerian ruling party officials as well as government ministers.  The allegations involve at least three former Nigeria Heads of State.
Halliburton reportedly reduced its initial offer of $500 million to $30 million, but Nigeria officials at the negotiations have instead on higher figures and are also asking for Halliburton to persuade Swiss authorities to release to Nigeria the $100 million it had frozen as proceeds of crime. An extra $30 million frozen by authorities in Monaco is also expected to be released to the Nigerian authorities if the negotiations work out as planned.
The entire exercise will add $150 million to the coffers of the Nigerian government.  Halliburton is also expected to pay legal fees as was those of the victims of the controversial Pfizer's illegal drug test settlements in Kano, Nigeria.

In the agreement can be reached, Nigeria will drop last week’s charges against Mr. Cheney and Halliburton, as well as the KBR officials indicted.
Sources at the Prosecutor’s offices told SaharaReporters that French company, Technip, has refused to come to the negotiation table.  In the coming days, the Prosecutor’s office plans to come down hard on the company over its intransigence.
Whatever becomes of the settlement, according to sources at the negotiations, Halliburton, which has its headquarters in Dubai, UAE, will indemnify KBR for the costs of settlement while Mr. Cheney can rest easy without further harassment over his sordid past at Halliburton.