Nigeria: Judge Issues Arrest Warrant For ExxonMobil Chief

A federal court in Abuja has signed off on a warrant to arrest the head of oil major ExxonMobil in Nigeria to compel him to appear before anti graft investigators, a statement for the Economic and the Financial Crimes Commission said on Wednesday. The EFCC said it sought the warrant after Richard Laing, the managing

director of the ExxonMobil of Nigeria, rebuffed three invitations to appear before the investigators probing alleged procurement fraud involving a pipelines project. Justice Okon Abang granted the EFCC’s bench warrant application on January 29, the EFCC said. It has not charged the Exxon or others with wrong doing and its

investigation is ongoing. The EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren told the media that the investigation is into the company and not Mr Laing personally. EFCC invited them in the course of the investigation but they have refused to honour the invitation, that is why we all went to the court of law and to compel his appearance for investigation, Uwujaren said. A spokesman for Exxon

declined to comment. Richard Laing didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The EFCC said the investigation related to the alleged fraudulent creation of procurement orders worth more than $213m as part of a pipelines project. Last year, Nigeria suspended the EFCC head Ibrahim Magu after the attorney general accused the agency of diverting funds that had been recovered during the investigations into corruption.