Nigerian Breweries Speaks On Corruption Allegations Against Ex-MD’s Wife

By Business Editor

Nigerian Breweries Plc has formally reacted to the corruption allegations levelled against the expatriate wife of a senior staff of its parent, company, Heineken who allegedly took bribes from a Nigerian to facilitate oil supplies to two of its plants.

Breweries in a statement of disclosure to the Nigerian Stock Exchange said it had taken steps to address the issues raised in the report published in a Dutch newspaper and recently republished in a Nigerian online newspaper, Premium Times.

The allegations revolve around Nico Vervelde, the erstwhile managing director of Nigerian Breweries and his wife, Clémentine who is alleged to have collected bribes from a Nigerian Ahamdu Sule for the purpose of facilitating a deal for him to supply petroleum products to Nigerian Breweries.

Following alleged more demands for bribe from Clémentine, Sule was forced to report to the police in Abuja which then interrogated the suspect alongside her husband.

Following the police interrogations at Force Headquarters they were granted bail facilitated by Femi Otedola. Not long after, Vervelde resigned his position as managing director of Nigerian Breweries but was offered another position at Heineken in Singapore.

Following the publication of the report by the Dutch newspaper, of the alleged deals which took place in Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries Plc, on Wednesday, September 4, 2019 made a statement of disclosure to the Stock Exchange.

The statement articulated by the company’s corporate affairs director Sade Morgan read in part:

RE: INVESTIGATION: HOW NIGERIAN BREWERIES PROTECTED ITS DUTCH CEO SUSPECTED OF CORRUPTION Nigerian Breweries Plc is aware of the recent publication by an online news platform about an alleged incident that occurred in early 2017.

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.

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.

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