Nigerian Breweries Reacts to Media Investigation on Its MD Suspected Of Corruption
Nigerian Breweries recently released a statement in response to a recent publication by two Dutch journalists. The publication has since been published by the Nigerian Media. The publication accused Nigerian Breweries of corruption within the ranks of the top management and it also accused them of protecting its former Dutch MD.
About the Dutch Publication
The story was originally published by Olivier van Beemen and Femke van Zeijl. They are Dutch journalists and they claim that the wife of the Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries, Nicolaas Vervelde, Clémentine Vervelde used her position as the wife of the MD to extort money from vendors. They accused her of extorting money from vendors who did business with the brewing company.
Van Beemen and Van Zeijl named a certain Amadu Sule, the Managing Director of TMDK Oil Traders who supplied fuel to Nigerian Breweries. Amadu Sule was to supply fuel to two of its breweries in Kaduna and Enugu. The publication claimed that he had to pay bribes to the Managing Director’s wife in exchange for the contract. Amadu Sule filed a petition with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. This led to a summons by the Nigerian Police Force to some senior-level managers of NB. They also summoned the wife of the company’s Managing Director.
According to Van Beemen and Van Zeijl, they claim that Nigerian Breweries had to pay over $2m to Amadu Sule to settle the case. This prompted both the subsidiary and its parent company to conduct both internal and external investigation on the allegations. The MD was then forced to resign as well as other top management officials.
Nigerian Breweries Reacts to Media Investigation on Its MD Suspected Of Corruption
The breweries issued statement released a statement concerning the whole scandal. The statement was signed by NB’s Corporate Affairs Adviser, Sade Morgan. It stated that they don’t condone bribery and corruption at any level. It stated that they would act decisively regardless of the person involved and their role in the organization. She further stated that the company conducted an internal and external investigation and moved decisively to address the issues.
“At Heineken, we do not tolerate bribery or corruption at any level. If an allegation emerges, a thorough investigation is carried out to establish the facts and, if necessary disciplinary action is taken – regardless of the role or position. In this case, we took exactly that approach and moved quickly to comprehensively address the issue. Both the Board of Nigerian Breweries and HEINEKEN conducted an internal and external audit and investigation,” Morgan said.
Morgan, further said that “The Board and Management of Nigerian Breweries Plc remain committed to upholding Nigerian Laws and managing our operations in the most responsible and compliant way.”
Sources: Marketingedge
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