Malabu oil scandal: Shell, Eni drag FG to court

Following a court order that the richest oil bloc in Nigeria, OPL 245, should be returned to Nigeria, multinational oil companies, Shell and Eni, have dragged the federal government to court to reclaim the oil bloc.

On January 26, Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court, granted Nigeria an interim order as sought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to take over the oil bloc estimated to contain over nine billion barrels of crude.

However, Shell and Eni, through their Nigerian subsidiaries, asked a Federal High Court to reverse the order that forced them to forfeit OPL 245.

In a separate case, the EFCC charged two former ministers, Mohammed Adoke and Dan Etete, as well as businessman Abubakar Aliyu to court for their roles in the $1.1 billion fraud.
The $1.1 billion was the money paid by Shell and Eni for the bloc.

EFCC, we understand, have concluded plans to file charges against the oil majors soon although they are already facing similar indictments in Italy, and also being investigated in the U.S., Netherlands, and UK.

On Tuesday, the hearing on the application by both oil companies was stopped upon request of the EFCC who sought time to respond to the applications.

At the opening of session on the case, the counsel representing the EFCC, J. A. Ojogbame, asked the court for an adjournment to allow him file his reply to the applications.

According to him, he had some challenges which would not allow him respond to the application.

The counsel representing Shell, Olaniwun Ajayi, objected to the application for adjournment, saying that the EFCC had obtained an order ex-parte, which allowed the commission to have control over the OPL 245.

Ajayi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said the EFCC had in its motion ex-parte, regarded the Malabu oil scam as an urgent matter requiring prompt attention, questioning EFCC’s failure to respond to the applications after almost two weeks after receiving the motion from the applicants.

After hearing the arguments, Justice Tsoho adjourned the hearing till February 27.
In 2011, both Shell and Eni paid about $1.1 billion in a Nigerian government account in London for possession of the bloc.

Over 70 percent of the money was transferred in questionable circumstances into Malabu accounts owned by a former petroleum minister, Dan Etete.

Etete then transferred over half of the money into accounts of fake companies controlled by Aliyu Abubakar, a man is wanted for fraud in Italy and whom the EFCC already charged for fraud.

Abubakar is believed to be a front for several top officials of the Goodluck Jonathan
administration.

In December, EFCC charged Messrs. Etete, Abubakar and Adoke for fraud and money laundering.

After being named in the $1b Malabu oil deal, former President Jonathan denied all allegations of involvement in the deal although the oil transaction took place during his tenure.

In a statement by his spokesperson, Ikechukwu Eze, in Abuja, the former president denied sending Abubakar Aliyu or any other person to receive bribe on his behalf.

According to the release, Jonathan also said he did not hold any secret meeting with parties involved in the transaction.

“With regards to the publication, we wish to make it clear that former President Jonathan was not accused, indicted or charged for corruptly collecting any monies as kickbacks or bribes from ENI by the Italian authorities or any other law enforcement body the world over”, he said.

Jonathan then referred his accusers to cross check the document which was signed during the deal at the office of the Attorney General of the Federation/Minister of Justice.

“In the first place, we have to categorically state that the negotiations and transactions for the oil block deal predate the presidency of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan which began on May 6, 2010 and ended on May 29, 2015.

“It may interest those promoting this false narrative to know that all the documents relating to the transactions, issues and decisions of the Federal Government on the Malabo issue, during the Jonathan administration, are in the office of the Attorney General of the Federation/Minister of Justice”, he said.

The statement again said that although Jonathan held meetings with the IOCs and officials of Eni, the meeting was for the good of the country.

Jonathan also denied owning any bank account or properties outside the country.
The former president then challenged anybody with concrete evidences against him to step up with them.

Italian authorities also said they will file criminal charges against former Minister of Petroleum, Dan Etete, for his involvement in the oil deal.

The notice of trial came one week after he was charged by the EFCC in Abuja.
Others to appear at the trial include, Chukwuemeka Obi, DescaJzi Claudio, the CEO of Eni; his predecessor, Paolo Scaroni; Roberto Casula, Armanna Vincenzo, Antonio Pagano, Ednan Agaev, Luigi Bisignani and Falcioni Gianfranco.

Obi and his firm, EVP, had laid claim to about $110 million of the $1.1 billion paid by Shell and Eni for OPL 245.

However, the money was frozen by a court in Switzerland.
Obi sued Malabu for the $110 million in London. The money, Obi said, was his fee for facilitating the deal between Shell, ENI and Malabu.

To buttress his claim, in July 2013, the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division presided by Lady Justice Gloster ruled in favour of Mr. Obi that he was entitled to “a fee of 8.5% of the total disposal consideration of $1.3 billion.”

The money was then wired into EVP’s Swiss accounts. However, Italian authorities who had by then started investigating the fraudulent deal asked Swiss authorities to freeze the money where it has since remained.

The Italian prosecutors also said officials of Eni, may have received $50 million bribe from the $1.1 billion the company and Shell paid into a Nigerian government account in 2011, to allow the oil firms secure OPL 245.

According to the Italian prosecutors, investigations into the roles of Shell and ENI in the OPL 245 scandal have been conclude and set for prosecution.

The investigators said €50 million cash was delivered to the Abuja home of Casula, who was then the head of Eni’s business operations in sub-Saharan Africa. The money was supposedly meant for “administrators and Eni executives.”

The investigators also revealed that contrary to claims, Shell and Eni officials were aware that the Italian firm negotiated with Etete and that the money paid to the Nigerian government would end up in Malabu’s accounts controlled by him.

Recently, EFCC started prosecution of Etete and other Nigerians, including former Attorney-General Bello Adoke, and Nigerian companies suspected in the scandal.

EFCC also filed a nine-count corruption and money laundering charge against Etete, Adoke, and Abubakar Aliyu, for their roles in the deal.

Adoke authorised the transfer of $801 million paid by Shell and Eni to Malabu’s accounts controlled by Etete.

However, the former attorney general has said he is not guilty as charged, promising return to Nigeria to face charges.

Findings as at 2014, showed that more than half of the N171.32 billion ($1.1 billion) paid to Malabu was used to bribe Nigerian politicians and intermediaries who helped to secure the controversial deal.

According to a letter which sought the help of UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to freeze the assets of those involved, Italian prosecutors said some of the N83 billion ($533 million) slush money was used to buy private jets and armoured vehicles.

“We are investigating many money transfers to many people in various countries who received sums that vary from millions of dollars to thousands of dollars,” the letter read.
Etete confessed to a British court in 2013 that former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, demanded part of the oil block as bribe.

Despite evidences showing that Shell and Eni are aware that the money would be paid to a questionable character, officials of the companies have denied any wrong doing in the affair.
For instance, prosecutors said that a senior official of Shell had a face-to-face meeting with Etete over expensive “lunch and lots of iced champagne” few months before the money was transferred into a Nigerian government’s account.

Also, an email presented during the trial also mentioned that the Shell official who related with Etete would refer to someone in The Hague known as “Peter” over the terms of the deal.
By 2010, Etete was said to have schemed out other owners of Malabu including allegedly fraudulently altering Corporate Affairs Corporation (CAC) documents, investigations revealed.
The CAC recently said its official in charge of the Malabu documents was “brutally murdered.”