Lord Howard of Lympne, the former Conservative leader, is to be questioned by the Serious Fraud Office as part of an investigation into alleged corruption in Somalia.

The former Home Secretary, who was MP for Folkestone and Hythe from 1983 to 2010, is chairman of Soma Oil & Gas, which is the subject of the probe.

The company denies any wrongdoing.

A spokesman said: “The SFO have confirmed that no suspicion whatsoever attaches to Lord Howard arising from the business of Soma and his role as a non-executive director of the company.

“He has agreed to speak with the SFO to help resolve their enquiry as quickly as possible.

“Soma Oil & Gas is confident there is no basis to the allegation and it is co-operating fully with the SFO to answer its queries.”

“The SFO have confirmed that no suspicion whatsoever attaches to Lord Howard arising from the business of Soma and his role as a non-executive director of the company..." - Soma spokesman

Soma Oil & Gas is a private UK company founded in 2013 to pursue oil and gas exploration opportunities in Somalia.

It signed an agreement with the nation’s government to assist in exploration in the troubled east African country in 2013.

It was the first agreement in Somalia’s oil and gas industry since the election of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the appointment of an internationally-recognized government in 2012 following decades of civil war.

The Serious Fraud Office has called on whistleblowers to come forward, which it described as “valuable sources of information”.

A spokesman said: “The SFO has opened a criminal investigation into SOMA Oil & Gas Holdings Ltd, SOMA Oil & Gas Exploration Limited, SOMA Management Limited and others in relation to allegations of corruption in Somalia.

“Whistleblowers are valuable sources of information to the SFO in its cases. We welcome approaches from anyone with inside information on all our cases including this one – we can be contacted through our secure reporting channel, which can be accessed via the SFO website.”