The Federal High Court, in Abuja, has ordered the arrest of Richard Laing, Managing Director, ExxonMobil Nigeria, according to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a series of tweets on Wednesday.
The EFCC started in the tweets via its verified handle that the judge, Okon Abang, issued the bench warrant against Mr Laing following an application by the commission’s lawyer.
The commission said it resorted to asking for the arrest warrant since Mr Laing allegedly ignored three successive invitations to answer to procurement fraud allegations.
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The tweets read, “The Commission is investigating alleged procurement fraud in the Major Integrity Pipelines Project involving Mobile Producing Nigeria as the contracting company, Suffolk Petroleum Services Limited as the main contractor, Saipem Contracting Nigeria, Global Offshore Limited and Van Ord as sub-contractor to SPSL.
“Suffolk Petroleum Services Limited as the main contractor, Saipem Contracting Nigeria, Global Offshore Limited and Van Ord as sub-contractor to SPSL.
“At issue, is the fraudulent creation of Change Orders worth over $213 million.”
ExxonMobil upstream affiliates currently operating in Nigeria are Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN) and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd.
Its affiliates are involved in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas and operate several joint venture concessions and deepwater production sharing contracts which currently focus on major secondary oil recovery projects; natural gas liquids and gas monetization, and significant investment in national content development.