$1.1bn Malabu oil deal: EFCC drags Adoke, Etete, others to court

By Vivian Okejeme
Abuja

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, yesterday filed a nine- count charge bordering on fraud at the Federal High Court, Abuja, against a former Attorney-General, Mohammed Adoke, SAN, a former Petroleum Minister, Dan Etete, a businessman, Abubakar Aliyu, and others for complicity in an oil deal, involving a Canadian oil giant, Malabu Oil and Gas Limited, to the tune of  $1. $1,616,690,656.78.
Adoke and former finance minister, Yerima Ngama, were alleged to have jointly approved the transfer of the sum into Nigerian accounts controlled by  Etete.
The money was allegedly paid by oil giants, Shell and ENI, into a federal government account  for OPL 245, considered the richest oil bloc in Africa.
After the transfer to the former petroleum minister, over half of the money was paid to
accounts of some companies said to be controlled by  Aliyu.

Others charged alongside the trios are ; Malabu Oil and Gas Limited, Rocky Top Resources Limited ,Imperial Union Limited, Novel Properties and Development Limited, Group Construction Limited,  and Mega Tech Engineering Limited.
Specifically Etete who has six out of the nine charges against him, is alleged  to have, at different times, transferred an aggregate sum of $801,540,000 into the account of Malabu Oil and Gas Sonic, in a commercial bank in Nigeria.
Also, Aliyu, the second accused person and his company- Rocky Top, is accused of  transferring an aggregate sum of  $478,603,705  to Imperial Union Limited, Novel Properties and Development Limited, Group Construction Limited ,Mega Tech Engineering Limited as payment for services rendered when he ought to have known that the money was proceeds of an alleged unlawful activity between Etete and Malabu Oil and Gas Limited.

In the charge sheet, Adoke is  alleged to have aided Etete and the oil firm to commit the offence of money laundering by facilitating the aggregate sum of $801,540,000 transferred to the duos  from the federal government escrow account .
No date has been fixed for the arraignment of the suspects, some of whom are not within the country.
Their trial is coming years after several probes to ascertain the suspects’ level of involvement in the deal.
Although Adoke has repeatedly claimed he did no wrong, but investigations by authorities in Nigeria, UK, and Italy have found him culpable in the scandal.
Last week, the former AGF faulted his successor in office, Malam Abubakar Malami,SAN, saying no illegality was perpetrated by him while in office in the Malabu oil deal.
In a letter to the Chairman, House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on the alleged Corruption, Malpractice and Breach of Due Process in the Award of Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245, Hon. Rasak Atunwa, the former minister said the transaction pre-dates him in office.

Malami had in his testimony before the committee said, “there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that the former Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, his  Petroleum and Finance Ministry counterparts, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and Mr. Olusegun Aganga, were fraudulently involved in the $1.092 billion controversial Malabu oil deal.”
He however acknowledged that “the payment of the money into an escrow
account by the fomer ministers, instead of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, was illegal. ”
But Adoke in his letter to the committee, dated December 14th, 2016, said, “Mr. Chairman, I had in the past issued several Press Statements explaining the role I played as Attorney General of the Federation in the above transaction and the negotiations that led to the
Out-of-Court Settlement of the dispute between Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited (SNUD) and Malabu Oil & Gas Limited (Malabu) over OPL 245.
“I therefore do not intend to bore you with the details that are already in the public space. It suffices to refer the Committee to my Comprehensive Position Paper dated 23 July 2013 which has been widely circulated to relevant Offices and Institutions such as the Office of
the President, Vice-President, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Ad-Hoc Committee of the House of Representatives of the 7th National Assembly that investigated the matter and the media.
“I however wish to quickly correct the impression created by above quoted statement credited to the Hon. Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN to the effect that I and my colleague Ministers of Petroleum and Finance were
responsible for the payment of the Signature bonus in respect of OPL 245 into an escrow account.

“I wish to state categorically that there is no truth in that assertion. Official records show that the escrow account under reference was opened pursuant to an Escrow Agreement dated 22 December 2003 between the Federal Government of Nigeria and JP Morgan Chase.  Records also indicate that the payment of part of the Signature bonus (US$ 209 Million) by SNUD into an Escrow Account was approved by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo,
GCFR, and the justification provided for the use of the Escrow Agreement mechanism was the pending proceedings over the revocation of OPL 245 by Malabu, the previous Concessionaire of OPL 245.
“It would be recalled that I assumed office as Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice on 6th April 2010 by which time the transaction in question (payment of Signature bonus into an escrow account) had been fully consummated by 23 December 2003.

“I cannot therefore fathom how I could be held responsible for a transaction that pre-dates me in office. For avoidance of doubt, I wish to reiterate the following facts contained in the memorial filed on behalf of SNUD before the International Centre for the Settlement of
Investment Disputes (ICSID): SNUD paid the signature bonus of US$210 Million in December 2003, SNUD paid US$ 1 Million via bank draft on 23 December 2003, SNUD paid the remaining US$ 209 Million into an escrow pursuant to an Escrow Agreement with the FGN(as represented by the Ministry of Finance) and JP Morgan Chase which was signed on 22 December 2003;”
“The Escrow Agreement –a mechanism suggested by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN)-states that this solution was used in contemplation of proceedings over the revocation of OPL245 by the previous concessionaire of OPL 245.”