IPNews-Monrovia, Liberia-3 April 2018: The Minister oi Justice and Attorney-General of the Republic of Liberia, Cllr. Musa Dean has recuse himself to avoid semblance of conflict of interest.
The Justice Minister was appointed by President George Manneh Weah to investigate former government officials who recent Global Witness accused of receiving kickbacks from ExxonMobil for the sale of the controversial oil Block 13.
In a release issue Tuesday, April 3, 2018 in Monrovia, Justice Minister Dean said his decision to recuse himself is based on the fact that he once served on the Board of National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL).
“I hereby recuse myself from the investigation commissioned by the President into the acquisition of the National Oil Company of Liberia’s (NOCAL) Block 13 by Broadway Consolidated/Peppercoast (BCP) and its subsequent sale to Exxon Mobil”
He said the decision to recuse himself is based on the fact that he served as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NOCAL between 2004 and January 2006.
Cllr. Dean said he has obtained the approval of the President George Manneh Weah to recuse himself from the investigation.
The report alleged that the former senior government officials allegedly received kickbacks for the sale of the controversial oil Block 13. In the report, Exxon purchase in 2013 was also accompanied by over US$200,000.00 in unusual large payments made by the corruption-tainted Liberian oil agency to six Liberian who approved the deal.
In a press statement issued in Monrovia over the weekend, Information Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe said the government of Liberia has acknowledged receipt of information from several international organizations including Global Witness and Wall Street Journal.
Despite a number of corruption allegations, ExxonMobil engineered a plan to skirt 125 legal exposures, using the Calgary-based Canadian Oversea Petroleum, a go-between to purchase the block
Officials who received payments included then ministers of finance and mining each of whom received US$35,000.00-more than their annual salaries.
Other officials who also received unusual payments in the post they occupied that time were former Finance Minister Amara M. Konneh, former Justice Minister Christiana Tah, former Lands and Mines Minister Patrick Sendolo, former National Investment commission chairman Natty B. Davies,, former National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL( chief executive officer Rudolph McClain and former NOCAL Board chairman Robert Allen Sirleaf, son of former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who claimed to have provided pro bono service to his country at the time.
