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| Chairman Atlantic energy Olajide Omokore |
Africa's biggest petroleum producer that has also netted former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Days after British police detained Alison-Madueke, one of
Africa's most powerful women, the official said their counterparts in
Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arrested
Atlantic Energy chairman Olajide Omokore on corruption and money
laundering charges.
The arrests, which follow pledges by President Muhammadu Buhari - a
former military dictator - to "clean up" Africa's biggest economy, have
sent shockwaves through Nigeria's globe-trotting corporate and
political elite.
"A lot of people have been shocked," one oil executive in Nigeria told
Reuters. "The net is widening and it's not clear how deep the rabbit
hole goes. There will be a few people looking over their shoulders."
The EFCC official said Omokore, listed by Forbes magazine
in 2012 as one of "Ten Nigerian multi-millionaires you have never heard
of", remained in custody.
Omokore's lawyer and a spokesman for his company could not be reached for comment.
Alison-Madueke, whose house in Abuja was raided by Nigerian police on Friday night, was accused by former central bank governor Lamido Sanusi of presiding over a state oil sector that leaked tens of billions of dollars during her five-year tenure.
Sanusi was sacked by then-President Goodluck Jonathan
after raising concerns that $20 billion in oil revenues had not been
remitted to government coffers by the state oil firm, NNPC, between
January 2012 and July 2013.
Alison-Madueke has denied any wrongdoing. Attempts to reach her in London have been unsuccessful.
DEALS
The arrests have turned the spotlight once again on
Nigeria's oil sector and the suspicions that oil theft, graft and
mismanagement have created an ultra-rich elite in an economy typified by
poverty, power cuts and shaky public services.
At the time, parliament criticized the two deals, which had a combined value of $6.6 billion, as having been subject to no bidding process.
Sanusi
also questioned the logic behind them, saying they were simply
transferring state assets into private hands. He identified the set-up
as one of the three main methods through which he believed the NNPC was
losing billions.
The Natural Resource Governance Institute, a U.S.-based watchdog, has
also criticized the NPDC for holding onto substantial revenues despite
having limited operational costs. It made an estimated $6.28 billion
over a 19-month period in 2012-2013.
Since coming to power, Buhari has ordered an audit of
NNPC, the central bank and other key state institutions, saying as much
as $150 billion was stolen from the state over the previous decade.
Four months after being sworn in, Buhari has failed to
nominate a cabinet - to the chagrin of the business and investor
community - but has made clear he will preside personally over the
petroleum sector to push through reforms.
A cabinet list sent to parliament on Tuesday included
Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, a former Exxon-Mobil manager appointed to the
helm of the NNPC in August after Buhari sacked the previous board in the
first salvo of his reform drive.
Kachikwu's portfolio was not specified but oil industry
sources say he is set to become state petroleum minister overseeing
daily operations under Buhari.
It was not immediately clear who will run NNPC in his
stead. Oil industry sources also said Buhari might also appoint a
special advisor for oil.
Since taking office, Buhari has overseen the cancellation of
controversial crude-for-product swaps and a costly refinery crude supply
contract.
NNPC
head Kachikwu announced an audit of the state company by
PriceWaterhouseCoopers that is expected to be completed in December,
sources familiar with the matter said.
The NNPC also said it wants to review upstream production
contracts and split NNPC into smaller units to improve efficiency and
end corruption.
Source: Reuters
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