-Norton admits AFC Leader has conflict of interest with ExxonMobil

DESPITE the Alliance for Change (AFC) denying that its leader, Nigel Hughes, is embroiled in a conflict of interest with ExxonMobil, its parliamentary partner, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) has contended that it is indeed an issue.
PNCR Leader, Aubrey Norton, during a press conference on Friday, was asked whether the conflict of interest with Hughes was a worrisome factor as it related to the PNCR working along with the AFC.
He subsequently admitted that he hoped the matter wasn’t as it was, despite his efforts to avoid discussing the Hughes’ controversial conflict of interest.
He said: “Ideally, I wish it wasn’t as it is but as we progress, I think it’s an issue we can address.”

Adding to this, Norton once again rubbished the idea of Hughes being a consensus presidential candidate for the PNCR-led A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) at the 2025 General and Regional Elections.
The issue of the conflict of interest arose after Hughes, on June 30, 2024, hours after being elected as AFC leader, was quoted by a local news outlet, saying that he would not break ties from his law firm – Hughes, Fields and Stoby – which represents ExxonMobil unless he is elected to the government.

Further, the online outlet reported that when asked what would happen if he has 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
Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, who called attention to this conflict of interest, had recently referred to 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, who also serves as the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, said that there were “very telling things” within the report.
He 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 green-light 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 May 25, 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 had 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 the 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 clarified 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 spotlighted in a damning report.

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.