TheNewsGuru

Tag: Malabu Oil Deal

  • BREAKING: $1.3bn Malabu Oil deal: EFCC raids ex-AGF, Adoke’s home

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Wednesday raided the Kano home of the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), as part of investigations into the $1.3bn Malabu scam.

    According to Adoke, the operatives of the EFCC stormed the residence and broke down the doors without a search warrant.

    Adoke said the officials, however, found nothing at the residence after the search.

    The statement read in part, “Some EFCC operatives today raided the house of former AGF and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN). They found nothing after breaking down the doors of his residence in Kano.

    “There was no evidence of a search warrant but they broke down some doors, searched everywhere and the roof. No information on the actual mission of the operatives. This invasion is without deference to the ongoing cases in court against the ex-AGF.”

    The EFCC spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, however confirmed to newsmen that operatives of the Commission conducted the search.

  • Shell admits knowing about payments to Malabu

    Shell admits knowing about payments to Malabu

    Royal Dutch Shell has said it knew that some of the payments it made to Nigeria for the rights to an oil field would go to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company associated with a former Minister of Petroleum Resources and convicted money launderer, Dan Etete.

    Shell spokesman, Andy Norman, was quoted as saying that the group had known that the Nigerian government “would compensate Malabu to settle its claim on the block.”

    Shell previously had said that its payments from the 2011 deal went to the Federal Government.

    Reuters quoted Norman as saying in an email that while Shell knew that Etete was “involved” with Malabu, it had not confirmed that he controlled the company.

    Etete was convicted of money laundering in a separate case in France in 2007.

    “Over time, it became clear to us that Etete was involved in Malabu and that the only way to resolve the impasse through a negotiated settlement was to engage with Etete and Malabu, whether we liked it or not,” Norman said.

    He added that the company believed the settlement was a fully legal transaction with the Nigerian government.

    The statement comes amid mounting pressure over the deal, in which Shell and Italy’s Eni paid $1.3bn for the rights to Oil Prospecting Licence 245, which industry estimates say could hold more than nine billion barrels of oil.

    Courts in Nigeria and Italy are investigating the purchase of the block. Italian prosecutors have asked for Eni’s Chief Executive Officer, Claudio Descalzi, to be sent to trial in connection with the case.

    Eni said neither the company nor Descalzi were involved in any allegedly illicit conduct.

    A Nigerian court ordered the asset temporarily seized in January at the request of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, but the move was overturned.

    The OPL 245, believed to be the largest in Africa, was said to have been fraudulently acquired from the Federal Government by Malabu Oil and Gas Limited in 1998.

    The oil block, which was awarded by Etete to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company in which he was a shareholder, was sold to Shell and Eni in what has been described as a shady transaction.

  • [BREAKING] Malabu oil deal: Court orders return of OPL 245 oil well to Nigerian govt

    [BREAKING] Malabu oil deal: Court orders return of OPL 245 oil well to Nigerian govt

    An Abuja Federal High Court on Thursday ordered the return of OPL 245 back to Nigerian government.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that OPL 245 is considered the largest oil block in Africa with a production rate of over 9bn barrel of crude oil.

    The oil well is currently a subject of investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and other security agencies in five countries.

    TheNewsGuru.com recalls that in 2011, two oil giants, Shell and Eni reportedly paid about $1.1bn into a Nigerian account to take over the oil block.

    About 70 per cent of the money was subsequently transferred in controversial circumstances into Malabu accounts controlled by a former Petroleum Minister, Dan Etete.

    Etete was said to have subsequently transferred over half of what he got into accounts allegedly controlled by one Aliyu Abubakar.

    Reports recently linked former President, Goodluck Jonathan to the deal, saying he allegedly got kickbacks but the ex-President has since denied it.

    In December 2015, EFCC had filed fraud and money laundering charges against Etete and Abubakar.

    During Thursday’s resumed trial, Justice John Tsoho ordered that the oil well be returned to the government pending “the conclusion of investigation,” by the EFCC.

    Details Later…