The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria said on Thursday it planned to file charges against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney in a $180 million bribery case involving a former unit of oil services firm, Halliburton.
The EFCC on Tuesday summoned the country chief of Halliburton and last week detained 10 Nigerian and expatriate Halliburton staff for questioning after raiding its Lagos office.
“We are filing charges against Cheney,” EFCC spokesman, Femi Babafemi told Reuters.
Asked whether Cheney would be charged over the investigation into construction of a liquefied natural gas plant in Nigeria, Femi Babafemi said, “it’s true ... definitely.”
The spokesman would not give details on the charges that he says are likely to be filed next week, but said “they are not unconnected to his role as the chief executive of Halliburton.”
A prosecutor on the case, Godwin Obla, said joint charges would be filed against Cheney along with the former and current leadership of Halliburton and others.
The charges are to be filed at the high court in Abuja, he said.
KBR, and Halliburton which was once headed by Cheney, reached a $579 million settlement in the United States but Nigeria, France and Switzerland have conducted their own investigations into the case.
Halliburton split from KBR in 2007 and has said that its current operations in Nigeria are unrelated.
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