Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that the case is before the courts but I believe that it would be correct none the less to make representations to the ambassador, without, of course, interfering with an independent court process. Fundamentally, I believe this is a political issue. Nigeria is a rich country in terms of resources and ranks fourth highest in terms of income from crude oil. The elite of Nigeria hold massive wealth. It was recently suggested that the President has personal wealth of $100 million and is the sixth richest leader in Africa. Multinational corporations, particularly oil companies such as Shell, are making profits from Nigeria of up to $8 billion despite being implicated in human rights abuses such as the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists. Side by side with massive poverty, three quarters of Nigeria's population is under 25, 68 million of its young adults are without work and more than half its population is living below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day. It appears to me that this is an attempt to prevent a political party representing working-class people standing for socialist ideas challenging the political elite that only serves the interests of the local elite and the multinationals operating within Nigeria.

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