The Nigerian government has revoked the work permit, visa and residence permit of Roger Brown, CEO of Seplat Energy Plc, over racism allegations.
The revocation was contained in a letter from the Home Secretary to the President of Seplat Energy Plc dated March 3, which is available to date.
Titled, “Withdrawal of Work Permit, CERPAC, Visa/Residence Permit of Mr. Roger Thompson Brown – CEO, SEPLAT Energy Plc,” the letter reads: “I write to inform you that the Ministry is in receipt of a petition from the Solicitor to the concerned workers and stakeholders of Seplat Energy PLC accusing Mr. Rogers Thomson Brown, the CEO of the companies of various allegations.”
According to the letter, his workers accused Brown of favoring foreign workers and discriminating against Nigerian employees.
He was also charged with possession of a joint expatriate-foreigner residence permit card (CERPAC) which is not based on a valid expatriate quota.
According to the report, Brown had repeatedly failed to accept invitations from the department committee investigating the matter.
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The letter further reads; “These accusations include racism, favoring foreign workers and discriminating against Nigerian employees. Testimony was received from several witnesses, which supported the allegations. Mr. Roger T. Brown declined to attend despite two invitations, claiming to be unavailable even though we learnt he was in Abuja for other purposes at the time.
“Investigation and records in the Ministry also revealed that Mr. Roger Brown was in possession of CERPAC that was not based on validly issued Expatriate Quota approved by the Ministry of Interior resulting to the violation of relevant Immigration Laws and Regulations. As a result of these, the Honourable Minister has determined that Mr. Brown’s continued stay in Nigeria is contrary to national interest.
“Consequently, the Ministry has withdrawn the Work Permit CERPAC, Visa, Residence Permit and all relevant documents that authorised Mr. Roger Thomson Brown’s entry or stay in Nigeria,” the letter stated.
Brown, who is British, joined Siplat in 2013 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and took over the helm of the company in November 2019, but did not take over until 2020.
According to the report, some interest groups took legal action against the company after violations of Nigerian laws.
