By Evelyn Usman

The Police at the Force headquarters, Abuja, have invited some senior managers of the Nigerian Breweries,NB over an allegation of fraud leveled against them by some traders.

The invitation followed a petition written by TMDK’s lawyers to the Attorney General of the Federation and the Honourable Minister of Justice who subsequently forwarded same to the Police for investigation.

Confirming the receipt of the invitation by the Police, the Corporate Affairs Adviser to NB, Kufre Ekanem in a statement issued yesterday in Lagos said : “ We hereby confirm that we have become aware of an on-going Police investigation emanating from a petition written by one of our suppliers, Messrs TMDK Oil Traders. In this respect, we would like to state as follows:

TMDK Oil Traders (TMDK) was one of the suppliers of petroleum products to Nigerian Breweries Plc (NB) via a three-year term certain contract that lapsed at the end of September, 2016.

TMDK participated in a recent tender process for supply of petroleum products to NB. While the process was on-going, TMDK wrote a letter to NB complaining of some bias against it. The complaint was handled and investigated by NB’s internal audit department and the conclusion was that the tender process was duly followed and no irregularities were found. Other claims relating to extra costs made by TMDK are currently being analysed and evaluated.

Recently, some managers in NB (senior and other levels) have been asked to report to the Force Headquarters (Police), Abuja for questioning based on a petition. The petition was written by TMDK’s lawyers to the Attorney General of the Federation and the Honourable Minister of Justice who in turn forwarded it to the Police for investigation. It appears that the petition is targeted at persons connected to NB, including the wife of our Managing Director.

We reiterate that, as a responsible organization, we will co-operate fully with the investigating authorities while seeking to protect and uphold the company’s reputation as a good corporate citizen in the country”..