-says gov’t takes such issues seriously

PEOPLE’S Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has not allowed ExxonMobil to push its head in the sand to avoid the evident conflict of interest between the oil company and Alliance For Change (AFC) Leader, Nigel Hughes.

On Tuesday, Exxon’s President, Alistair Routledge was questioned by the media regarding Hughes’ dual roles as a political leader and his law firm- Hughes, Fields and Stoby – representing the company.

In response, Routledge said: “We comply with all laws and regulations here and internationally. So, we don’t believe we have any conflict of interest, any issues.”

During a press conference on Thursday, Dr Jagdeo responded by stating: “They [Exxon] want to judge their own conflict of interest and they can’t do that. Exxon is a conflicted party because they have on their payroll in the country of Guyana, the leader of a political party.”

He also stated: “We take this conflict-of-interest issue very seriously.”

To emphasise how seriously the government takes this matter, the PPP General Secretary, who is also Guyana’s Vice President, added that one cabinet minister had ties to the company, but during discussions he was given the option to either break those ties and become a member of the government or not.
The minister chose to sever ties, he said.

Adding to this, Dr Jagdeo called attention to the fact that AFC is able to influence oil and gas policy because it is represented in the National Assembly and has a number of parliamentary seats. Therefore, the AFC leader remains in a precarious position even after stating that he will not have an input in oil and gas matters as party leader.

Hughes had attempted to draw a veil over the reality of his relationship with ExxonMobil; however, a recent judgement handed down by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has proven otherwise.
During his party’s press conference last Friday, Hughes attempted to distance himself from ExxonMobil, stating that it is another attorney-at-law at his law firm, who has “exclusively” represented the oil company.

He said: “Andrew Pollard, S.C., has exclusively managed the client, ExxonMobil.”

However, recently, the CCJ dismissed an appeal filed by Guyanese citizen Ramon Gaskin challenging a local judgement that determined that the Stabroek Block partners did not require separate licences to operate offshore.

And for the added respondents, ExxonMobil, CNOOC and HESS, Pollard S.C., and Hughes appeared.

Dr Jagdeo said: “But he says clearly to the people of this country ‘I don’t handle this portfolio; it’s handled by another person’….and then look at this, eight days before [AFC National Conference] Nigel Hughes is there on a court case with Raymond Gaskin vs Minister of Natural Resources and others.”

SELF-INTEREST OVER COUNTRY

The issue of conflict of interest arose after Hughes, on June 30, 2024, hours after being elected as AFC leader, was quoted by a local news outlet as saying that he would not break ties from his law firm, which represents ExxonMobil, unless he is elected to the government.

Hughes said: “No, no! This issue really only arises if and when I become President or acquire a position of power, because, then, I’m in a position to influence government policy, they can claim. Right now, I can’t influence government, and, therefore, it’s a theoretical conflict.”

Further, the online outlet reported that when asked what would happen if he had to draft a contract or represent ExxonMobil or any other oil and gas-sector company in a court case that might go against the grain of the welfare and interest of Guyanese who he is representing politically, Hughes’ response was, “You seriously couldn’t be asking me to compromise my client’s integrity because the interest of Guyana is at stake, because I happen to be the leader of a political party; if you hired me in a case against the Government of Guyana, and you’re going to get an advantage to the disadvantage to the citizens, are you saying I should compromise the quality of advice I give to you and the quality of representation I give to you because Guyana is on the other side? That can’t be right. You’re putting any professional in a position where they have to make a biased decision, and they will not be giving their clients the best possible legal service, which they are hired to do.”

CLYDE & CO. REPORT

Dr. Jagdeo has reference the findings of a report by Clyde & Co. International Law Firm, which was commissioned by the former government. Clyde & Co International Law Firm, a company headquartered in London, England, was commissioned to conduct an “independent” report based on an investigation into the circumstances leading to the execution of the Petroleum Agreement June 27, 2016 – the renegotiated ExxonMobil contract.

Dr. Jagdeo had said: “…The report said, ‘On 19 May 2015, we understand EEPGL sent a proposed ‘Escrow Process’ flowchart, setting out the various steps and timeline for the execution of a new petroleum agreement (what would become the 2016 Agreement).

“…so, in the period from May 2015 when Nigel Hughes was still Chairman of the AFC, the negotiations started. Their own report said that Exxon sent this document over in May 2015.”

The report also stated that an ExxonMobil official, Brooke Harris, drafted Guyana negotiating position for the new ExxonMobil deal. It added that the Cabinet Memorandum that was approved to greenlight the renegotiation with ExxonMobil was based on email correspondences and drafts exchanged between the APNU+AFC Coalition and ExxonMobil.

The report, on Page 29, said: “We understand that on 25 May 2016, Mr. (Brooke) Harris provided, by email, a first draft Cabinet Memorandum.” Page 30 added, “We understand that the Cabinet Memorandum was prepared further to the email correspondence and draft versions exchanged between Mrs. Homer and Mr. (Brooke) Harris during the period 20 May to 31 May, 2016.”
The Clyde & Co International Law Firm’s 30-page report was completed on January 30, 2020.

GLOBAL WITNESS REPORT
Dr. Jagdeo also called attention to the 2020 Global Witness Report, which further underscored the conflict of interest involving Hughes.

Referring to Page 15 of the report, he stated that the report read: “Hughes has denied that his relationships with Trotman and Exxon represent a conflict of interest. In July 2019, he told Global Witness that his time as AFC Chairman did not really overlap with Trotman’s time as Minister of Natural Resources. Hughes did resign his post as AFC Chairman near the start of the Stabroek negotiations and was not in this post when Trotman was negotiating with Exxon in June 2016. However, as reported in the Guyanese press, Trotman became a minister in May 2015, eleven months before Hughes relinquished his AFC position in April 2016.”

He added, “Hughes said I was not Exxon’s lawyer when Trotman was Minister, but it wasn’t true. Eleven months after Trotman was Minister that is when he resigned. So, what we had was the General Secretary of AFC (Trotman) negotiating with Exxon and the Chairman of AFC (Nigel Hughes) is Exxon’s lawyer.”

Conflict of interest concerns were initially publicised in February 2020 with the publication of a Global Witness Report titled ‘Signed Away’. The renegotiated deal with ExxonMobil was done “quickly” and “apparently without a competitive bidding process” in 2016, according to the report.

The report made clear that the rushed signing of a re-negotiated deal with ExxonMobil was also due in part to the company’s “seemingly aggressive tactics” that succeeded with the engagement of Trotman.

“Trotman had reason to know that his Stabroek negotiation terms were weak…. Exxon needed a new deal, and it aggressively pursued one. In early April 2016, the company opened negotiations in Texas by confronting two inexperienced Guyanese officials,” the report said.

The renegotiated deal was signed on June 27, 2016.
Further, while the APNU+AFC Coalition’s Trotman was legally responsible for the oil and gas sector in 2016, during which period the ExxonMobil agreement was renegotiated, concerns about the role of his then partner in the AFC, Nigel Hughes, were been spotlighted in a damning report.

The report, on page 14 said: “Trotman was legally responsible for assessing and approving or rejecting Guyana’s oil licences. However, during the 2016 Stabroek negotiations Trotman had a possible conflict of interest. Trotman’s main political partner – Nigel Hughes – had served as one of Exxon’s lawyers on other matters, and Hughes’ firm periodically represents Exxon as a client.”

Notably, when the renegotiated ExxonMobil contract was finally released, on page 4, the address of Hughes’ law office is listed as the registered office – 62 Hadfield and Cross Streets, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown – of the oil company.
Although the report was withdrawn in 2021, Global Witness in a statement said: “We stand by the integrity of the evidence we have presented.”

Global Witness had called for the relationship between Trotman, Hughes, and Exxon to be investigated to determine the existence or extent of any conflict of interest.