A top US State Department official has said that the country will not disclose the names of the Nigerian officials involved in the $6m Wilbros bribery scandal.
A spokesman of the State Department in charge of Africa, Mr. Greg Garland, in a chat with the Empowered Newswire said it was not the practice of the US government to reveal the names of those indicted in an investigation.
Since the Wilbros scandal blew into the open, there have been calls on the US government to release the names of Nigerians involved.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar had challenged the US government to disclose the names of the Nigerian officials while seeking to clear himself of complicity in the scandal.
When told that the Nigerian anti-graft bodies had been investigating some people indicted in the bribery scandal, Garland said in the US legal system, defendant would have to face the grand jury, whose duty it is to make such a criminal determination before a criminal trial.
While the US government has indicted and actually found some of its citizens guilty of bribery, no Nigerian official has been prosecuted over the matter.
Garland, however, said if the Nigerian government requested for any information or evidence in its investigation, the US could oblige such.
For that to happen, he said the Mutual Legal Assistance agreement between both countries required that a channel had to be established to manage any request from Nigeria
Indeed the plea agreement between the Wilbros officials and the US government indicates that the US can call the officials anytime to cooperate with a foreign investigation.
Already both the former Managing Director of Wilbros, Mr. Jim Brown; and the former General Manager, Mr. Jason Edward, have pleaded guilty to bribery charges in violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Acts. Their plea agreement guarantees that charges of money-laundering against them have been dropped.
According to the plea agreement with the Wilbros officials, �At the time of the sentencing, the US agrees to dismiss counts 2-4 of the indictment,� which formed a majority of the charges and counts that border on money laundering.