The National Accord Bloc of the High Council of State announced on Wednesday that it had submitted a report to the Attorney General against the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), Farhat Bengdara, accusing him of holding the citizenship of another country, which “makes him lose the Libyan citizenship,” demanding an investigation into "conflict of interest" and suspicions of corruption related to oil contracts that were signed in the past years.
This accusation came in a statement issued by the Bloc following developments related to the NOC and the energy file in general. The Bloc said that it had submitted an official complaint to the Attorney General “attached with documents indicating that Bengdara holds the citizenship of another country, which deprives him of Libyan citizenship according to the law, prevents him from holding any position or job, and is considered a perpetrator of crimes punishable by law,” according to the statement.
It also stressed the rejection of what it described as “attempts to make the energy file dependent on specific countries through suspicious appointments and contracts,” which it said represented a threat to energy security.
The National Accord Bloc also stressed that it had written to the Attorney General to investigate a conflict of interest behind deals signed by Bengdara with companies from the same country of his second citizenship - without naming those countries.
It renewed its demands to “scrutinize the deals that were signed in recent years without regard to legislation or Libyan interests,” calling on the Attorney General and the regulatory agencies to urgently investigate the suspicions of corruption affecting oil contracts.
NOC Chairman Bengdara had previously faced accusations of corruption and squandering the state’s interests to foreign countries and companies after the spotlight was shed on the Hamada oil field development contract, which gives the coalition of foreign companies contributing to the project 40% of its revenues: a deal that was considered a dangerous precedent in the Libyan oil sector, especially with the companies’ ability to implement the development process without the need for foreign partners.
The accusations resurfaced after the recent spread of Bengdara's support and marketing of the UAE company ADNOC’s desire to sell its stake in LERCO, the operator of the Ras Lanuf oil refinery, to an anonymous partner, which many considered an insult to the State of Libya if the country agreed to the sale without knowing the identity of the buyer.
