The immediate past Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petro-leum Corporation (NN-PC), Mr. Funsho Kupolokun, has absolved himself of any involvement in the $6 million Wilbros bribe contract scam.
The bribes were allegedly given to some officials of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), NNPC and Shell Petroleum by the American company to facilitate a gas pipeline contract.
Kupolokun, who spoke at a dinner party organised for him on Monday night by his friends and family members to mark his 60th birthday, also debunked reports that he was relieved of his position over the award of contract to a company in which he has interest.
He insisted that he was transparent in the manner he ran the business of the corporation during his tenure.
The former NNPC GMD, however, declined further comments on the Wilbros issue, offering to give a detailed statement on it after investigations had been completed by the relevant Nigerian and American governments.
He described newspapers reports linking him with the Wilbros bribe scandal as �horrible�, saying, �in the fullness of time when the on-going investigations have been completed, we would have had separation of facts from fiction. Until then, I will not comment.
�While I was the Managing Director of NNPC, I ran the business of the corporation as transparently as anybody could do but I don�t run my business on the pages of newspapers.
�It was therefore a big surprise to see reports on the newspapers, shortly after my retirement, claiming that I was retired because I awarded a contract to a company where I have interest. But over four months after my retirement, that same contract has not been awarded by NNPC.�
He told the cr�me de la cr�me of the nation�s oil and gas industry who graced the occasion, including the first Managing Director of NNPC, Chief Festus Marinho, that he was innocent of the scandals, asserting, �Some of you have wondered if it is the same Kupolokun that you know. I assure you that it is the same Kupolokun whom you have known for a long time. Nothing has changed�.
Former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and former finance minister under the General Muhammed Buhari military regime, Dr. Onaolapo Soleye, were alleged to be beneficiaries of the $6 million bribes distributed by Wilbros Group to secure contracts for the eastern gas gathering system (EGGS) in Nigeria.
But former vice president, Abubakar, however, said he was not the vice president fingered in the scandal and that some faceless people might have masqueraded as the vice president.
Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), THISDAY learnt, will soon commence the arrest and prosecution of all those who allegedly received the $6 million bribe from Wilbros.
The chairman of the EFCC, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, who disclosed in an interview with journalists at the just concluded sixth National Seminar on Economic Crime, said the commission had officially written to the American government to allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) currently handling the investigations to provide EFCC with necessary information and records of the entire transaction.
He, however, declined to name the Nigerians involved in the gas pipeline deal, on the ground that the commission signed a treaty with the American government not to make public the names of those involved in the bribery scandal, until every aspect of the investigation was concluded.
According to him, the commission had the full support of the Presidency and the National Assembly to investigate and prosecute past and serving public office holders found guilty of economic crimes, including those in the private sector.
Dec122007