AFC chairman Nigel Hughes has acknowledged that his association with Sithe Global was a conflict of interest and made his most definitive statement yet that he has quit politics, a decision he appeared to have not yet communicated to the party’s leadership.
“My time in politics has been brief and is now over,” said Hughes in a Facebook post responding to a statement that he needed to apologise for the fiasco after it was revealed that he was Company Secretary for the Amaila Falls Hydropower Inc while also holding the post of AFC chairman. “I was privileged to have been afforded an opportunity to have contributed to the struggle of Guyanese for a better Guyana, whether Linden, Cotton Tree, Agricola, Red Village, Marudi etc. My commitment to the poor and powerless preceded my entry into politics and will survive my departure from it,” he said in the post.
Hughes, who is overseas, did not immediately respond to a query from Stabroek News seeking clarification of his statements. When contacted last evening, AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan said that he has not gotten any communication from Hughes. He said also that he is unaware of Hughes sending to the AFC any message that he is leaving the party.
In a post on his Facebook page yesterday, Norman Browne, an AFC supporter, called for Hughes and his wife Cathy to “genuinely apologise” and ask the forgiveness and continued support of the Guyanese people as they strive to repair and restore the positive image of the AFC. He said that the AFC is in crisis “because of its own doing” and he believed that they are not handling it in the serious manner it requires.
“Let me state very clearly that I am disappointed by the actions of Nigel Hughes and Cathy Hughes. More disappointed that they haven’t convinced us, in the aftermath of the Amaila fiasco, that their first concern should be to appeal to the trust and support of their constituents,” he wrote. He said that Ramjattan attempted to defend a case “which clearly falls within the unfortunate ambits of a conflict of interest.”
According to Browne, the track record of the AFC has been a sterling one and the principles it embraced and brought to the fore of recent political history are unmatched by any other political party in Guyana. “Why throw all of this away by employing political brinksmanship over doing what is right, in this sordid affair … and putting the interest of self over national concerns,” he asked while reiterating that the Hugheses should apologise.
In response to Browne, Hughes said that they deeply regret the extreme difficulties that they have placed the AFC in. He said that it was never their intention and “unreservedly apologise” to AFC supporters for the disappointment caused.
He recounted that when the news of him being the Company Secretary for AFHI was published in the Kaieteur News, the complaint was that while he was chairman of the AFC, he participated in the deliberations on Amaila which he described as a clear allegation of conflict of interest in the past which tarnished and tarnishes the AFC’s position on the matter.
Hughes said that at that stage, the issues were: was the AFC aware of this before and if they were, what did they and/or he did about it. The attorney said that he immediately revealed that he had previously disclosed his position to the party and in light of the furore and the clear damage he was causing and had caused the party, the option was resignation. “That addressed the issue of a conflict of interest as I (acknowledged) that there was a conflict and I assumed full responsibility for it then as I do now,” Hughes said.
He said that the question of resignation from AFHI could not cure what was a conflict of interest in the past and the issue was responsibility for the conflict “which at all times lay with me and for which I accept responsibility.”
Hughes said that the option was not “in my humble opinion” resign from Sithe versus resign from the AFC Chairmanship. He said that he resigned immediately from the chairmanship as he accepted full responsibility for the regrettable position in which he placed the party. “The issue of resigning from the position as company secretary would only address my future position on the issue when the furore was over my past actions and that of the Party’s by not making the information of my position as secretary, public,” he said.
He said that he thought mistakenly that by his resigning, he had made his position clear so whether or not he resigned from Sithe would be academic. Hughes said that he has noted the several comments that he opted for money over the AFC and he respects those views. “I cannot professionally release any information on whether I was paid as company secretary as that is a matter for the client to release as it is their confidential information to release such (information) not mine,” he said while adding that he has no difficulty if they release information on whether he was paid as company secretary.
Hughes offered his “unreserved apologies and sincere regrets” for having placed the party’s fortunes in this position. He asserted that he will continue to support the party’s efforts to realize a new and different Guyana in which equal opportunity is afforded to all.
The AFC has declined Hughes’ resignation and it was later stated that he plans to take a break to decide if he will remain in politics. Sithe Global has since pulled out of the Amaila project in the absence of parliamentary consensus on the project.
