If elected to office, the new Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Nigel Hughes will have to sever ties with his law firm that currently provides services to ExxonMobil and other oil companies, according to former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran.
Writing in his `Accountability Watch’ column in yesterday’s Stabroek News, Goolsarran addressed the question of the conflict of interest which has arisen since Hughes was elected as the new leader of the AFC.
“Avoiding conflicts of interest is essential to the practice of good governance, especially in the public sector which exists to provide various services to the public. It is the quality of those services and putting the public interest above all other interests that are of paramount importance. While there are various ways of mitigating the effects of conflict of interest, eliminating conflict of interest in its entirety is perhaps the best course of action in order to win the confidence of the public.