BY: IFEANYI IZEZE
Why do our government officials proudly wear the toga of ‘people of
half-measures’ everywhere and in everything? Is it not distressing to
think that The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been
on this Malabu (OPL 245Oil bloc) heinous crime against our common
interest for over a decade now and still they are yet to get a hold on
the crux of the matter and the actual dramatis personae rather they have
wasted our resources and time chasing shadows.
Why is the EFCC deliberately suppressing the truth concerning the
transactions and rather rushing to slam criminal charges solely against
the former Attorney General of the Federation Mohammed Adoke for
conspiracy/aiding money laundering and all sorts of other offences?
Malabu Oil and Gas Company Nig. Limited was allocated or rather gave
itself OPL 245 in April, 1998 and appointed Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep
(SNUD) as its technical partner, with the two companies executing
relevant agreements, including a Joint Operation Agreement in 2001.
Records indicate that SNUD took 40 percent participating interests in
the venture in a farm-in agreement and also signed agreement with Malabu
as its technical partner for the venture. Although Malabu was issued a
license for Bloc 245 in April 2001, the same licence was subsequently
revoked by the Federal Government on 2nd July, 2001. Exxon-Mobil,
ENI/Nigerian Agip and Shell were invited in April 2002 to bid for OPL
245 despite subsisting contractual agreements between Malabu and SNUD
with respect to OPL 245.
Despite the intrigues, politics and outright mischief by both the
federal government and all the companies involved (real and fake ones),
the question to ask is: Was there anything like “OPL245 Resolution
Agreement with Malabu Oil and Gas, Shell, ENI and their Nigerian
subsidiaries?” What was the role of the Federal Government in the
Agreement: was the government a party or a mediator?
Whether anybody wants to hear this or not, the charges being levelled
against Adoke reveal very clearly that either the Office of the Attorney
General of the Federation and that of the EFCC are not working in
harmony or that something sinister is going on. And it ought not to be
so if actually we are serious about tracing the missing money in the
Malabu transactions.
Is it not curious that one very key missing link in all these EFCC
theatrics is the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of
Justice, Abubakar Malami. Why is he not telling the EFCC and Nigerians
whether his predecessors in office from 2006 to May 2015 acted in the
national interest when they brokered and implemented the Settlement? It
is instructive for Nigerians to know whether his predecessors were
carrying out their personal agenda or that their respective actions were
carried out with the knowledge and approval of their respective
principals.
Except there is more to this case that we are meant to believe, it is
Abubakar Malami’s duty to tell the public that the transaction started
under President Obasanjo, under whose administration the Terms of
Settlement were brokered. The executor of the terms was Bayo Ojo (SAN),
who was the Attorney General. He performed this role before the tenure
of Goodluck Jonathan, who approved the final implementation of the Terms
of Settlement. Adoke was similarly an executor of the resolution
agreements, especially because the whole process and its implementation
were domiciled with the Ministry of Justice.
Curiously, the EFCC has deliberately circumcised this case? It will be
recalled that the Terms of Settlement encapsulating details of the
Settlement between the Federal Government of Nigeria and Malabu Oil &
Gas Limited (Malabu) was executed on 30th November 2006. The Terms of
Settlement, which was later reduced to a Consent Judgment of the Federal
High Court, Abuja, was brokered by Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN) the then AGF who
signed on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria in conjunction
with Edmund Dakauru, the then Minister of State for Petroleum.
How come the EFCC is pretending not to be aware that the role played by
the Federal Government, its agencies and officials in the transaction
was essentially that of facilitator of the resolution of a long standing
dispute between Malabu and Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep?
What is the effect of Section 5 of the Constitution on persons who act
pursuant to lawful Presidential approvals? This is more so as two out of
the three Presidents that had the opportunity to scrutinize this
Settlement (Presidents Obasanjo and Jonathan) are still alive. Have they
disowned the Settlement? Has Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN) distanced himself from
the Settlement he brokered? Have the Ministers of Petroleum Resources
and Finance at the time of implementation of the Settlement (Mrs Diezani
Allison-Madueke, and Dr. Olusegun Aganga, respectively) disowned the
Settlement or their signatures?
How do you explain that the EFCC is trying to impugn the transaction,
which was scrutinized and approved by Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan
as well as three Attorneys-General, solely on Adoke leaving out the
other two-Bayo Ojo and Andoakaar? Why is the EFCC not arresting and/or
detaining any top level official from Agip, Shell, Mobil amongst others?
The arrest and detention of Adoke Muhammed is not the end-all. What’s
at issue in this Malabu case is the whereabouts of the $1.1 billion
ENI/Nigerian Agip oil Company paid into Nigeria’s bank account at JP
Morgan branch in New York, which was then hurriedly transferred to JP
Morgan branch in London, where it was shared by just few people,
including a former Russia’s diplomat; and, Dan Etete – a past Oil
Minister in Nigeria who’s since admitted he got $250 million as his
share of the bounty, thereby leaving about $850 million unaccounted for
as yet.
Where is the missing $850 million in the transaction that was shared in
London? That is the rub. That’s where the EFCC looks lazybones for
failing to trace the remainder $850 into individuals’ pockets and
asking Interpol to repatriate Chief Dan Etete. For those failings EFCC
can’t claim to be doing more than going through the motions so long as
it doesn’t retrieve any portion of the $1.1 billion Malabu Oil fraud
at large. God bless Nigeria!
(IFEANYI IZEZE WRITES FROM ABUJA: IIZEZE@YAHOO.COM; 234-8033043009)