$1.6b Malabu oil block: Eni’s Board insists no shady deal

Despite of the seizure the controversial $1.6b Malabu Oil Block, one of the four indicted oil giants, Eni(Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited) yesterday insisted that there was no shady deal in the auctioning of the block. Its forensic investigations, said the company, confirmed that it committed no infraction.

Eni made its position known in a statement against the backdrop of the ongoing probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Milan prosecutors.

Following a court order, the EFCC seized the oil block pending the conclusion of investigation and trial of those implicated in the $1,616,690,656.78 billion deal.

The oil firms are Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCO), Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited, and Malabu Oil and Gas Limited

The anti-graft agency is specifically seeking the whereabouts of $1,616,690,656.78 billion paid by SNEPCO and Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited (NAE) into an escrow account.

Investigators were battling last night to determine whether or not the cash had been used for the settlement of the dispute on the oil block or diverted elsewhere.

A United Kingdom anti-corruption group, Global Witness, alleged that about $523million of the $1.1billion paid by Shell and Eni for Malabu Oil Block (OPL 245) has gone to some fronts of a former President.

The EFCC applied to the Federal High Court in Abuja for an interim order of forfeiture of the said oil block.

It urged the court to issue an order enabling the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to manage the oil block during the seizure.

But Eni (Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited) yesterday said its forensic investigations showed no wrong doing by its Board of Directors.

The statement by the company said: “Eni’s Board of Directors today takes note of the outcome of further forensic investigations into the 2011 transaction between Eni and Shell and the Nigerian Government for the acquisition of the OPL 245 licence in Nigeria.

The investigations were conducted by an independent US law firm. They were commissioned by Eni’s Board of Statutory Auditors and Watch Structure.

“The investigations examined the new materials and further information filed by the Milan prosecutors as part of the closure of the investigation in December 2016.

“The law firm confirms the conclusions reached by previous investigations in 2015, stating that there is no evidence of corrupt conduct in relation to the transaction.

“Eni’s Board of Directors confirmed its total confidence that neither the company nor its CEO Claudio Descalzi were involved in alleged illicit conduct under investigation.”

The EFCC had on December 20, 2016 filed nine charges bordering on alleged mismanagement of $1,616,690,656.78 Malabu Oil cash against a former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke( SAN), a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Chief Dan Etete and seven others.

The others are a businessman, Aliyu Abubakar, Malabu Oil and Gas Limited; Rocky Top Resources Limited; Imperial Union Limited; Novel Properties and Development Company Limited, Group Construction Limited and Megatech Engineering Limited.

The nine-count charge was filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja by a team of lawyers, including Johnson Ojogbane, C.C. Nduese, H.M. Mohammed, and Victor Ukagwu.

The trial of all the suspects is yet to begin.

In a letter to EFCC, a United Kingdom anti-corruption group, Global Witness, alleged that about $523million of the $1.1billion paid by Shell and Eni for the oil block went to some fronts of a former president.

It said the deal deprived the country of a sum equivalent to 80% of its 2015 health budget in a country where more than 60% of the population live in poverty.

The group made the disclosures in a statement by its Director, Simon Taylor.

It also wrote a letter to the EFCC, urging the agency not to waiver in its determination to probe the sale of the oil block.

But Global Witness said prosecutors in the UK had alleged that about $523million of the $1.1billion was paid to the fronts of a former President.