Under pressure to bring to justice those bribed by agents of Halliburton subsidiary KBR, the Nigerian government has convened a panel.

The background to the case can be read here.

KBR and its former Chief Executive Albert Jack Stanley have pleaded guilty to offences related to bribing Nigerian officials in order to secure a contract to construct a liquified natural gas facility in the country. Nigeria has so far taken no action against those Nigerians who were bribed.

According to the Daily Independent report, the panel comprises:

"the heads of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), State Security Services (SSS), and the Inspector General of Police."

The panel will also probe cases involving Siemens and Willbross.

The Nigerian Bar Association has described the panel as a "cover-up".

Meanwhile, the Swiss have confirmed they will assist Nigeria in the recovery of $150 million of Halliburton bribes currently held in Swiss bank accounts.

According to an article in The Punch, however, the Swiss Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Micheline Clamy-Rey, stated:

"Nigeria only needs to take advantage of the opportunity of the Mutual Legal Assistance existing between both countries to request for the reparation of the funds.

...

She said, “Halliburton money of about $150m is blocked in Zurich, but the Mutual Legal Assistance existing between the two countries allows Nigeria to request, and we are ready to assist Nigeria.”"

So have members of the Nigerian government been careful not to ask?

An article in This Day article reports comments by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Chief Mike Aondoakaa, to the effect that:

"the money had been trapped in Zurich because it had been difficult to establish the operator of the account but warned that no government official found culpable would be speared. He however did not state categorically who found it difficult to ascertain the account's owner - whether the Nigerian government or officials of the unnamed bank."

None of which provides any confidence that the Nigerian government sees it as being in its interest to get to bring the Halliburton bribees to justice, or to bring the bribe money back into the public coffer instead of private Swiss accounts.

A Voice of America article includes interview remarks by a Nigerian professor of political science at the University of Abuja:

"Some reports attributed to the Nigerian media and NGOs said former Nigerian presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Abdulsalami Abubakar and the late Sani Abacha are among those who accepted bribes.

Mohamed said while the names of the three former presidents have not been made known in Nigeria, nevertheless there have been speculations to that effect.

"Most people have shoved with the wave of a hand that once it involves Olusegun Obasanjo, there is nothing that is going to be done. The present government is a stooge of the former president," Mohamed said."

Mohamed adds his own voice to those who think the new Halliburton probe will do nothing but tackle a few of the small fish.