Page 9 - AfrOil Week 03 2020

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil
Nigeria files new charges
in relation to OPL 245 payments
NIGERIA
NIGERIA’S federal government said earlier this week that it had filed 42 new charges against three individuals and four corporations in con- nection with allegations of fraud in the sale of OPL 245, an offshore oilfield, by Malabu Oil & Gas in 2011.
The individuals charged were named by the Nigerian press as Mohammed Bello Adoke, the country’s former attorney general and minister of justice; Rasky Gbinigie, the company secre- tary of Malabu Oil & Gas, and Abubakar Aliyu, a businessman who has been accused of dis- tributing bribes on behalf of former President Goodluck Jonathan. The companies charged are Malabu Oil & Gas, Nigeria Agip Exploration, Shell Nigeria Exploration Production and Shell Ultra Deep.
In the charges, which were filed on January 15, the federal government alleged that Adoke had brokered the agreements that had enabled Malabu Oil & Gas to sell its licence for OPL 245 to subsidiaries of Royal Dutch Shell (UK/Neth- erlands) and Eni (Italy). According to previous reports, Shell and Eni reportedly deposited $1.1bn worth of bribes in accounts registered to Dan Etete, Nigeria’s former petroleum minister, in exchange for the licence.
Accordingly, the Nigerian government accused Adoke of money laundering and abuse
of office in relation to the transfer of the licence for OPL 245. It has charged the former attorney general with knowingly accepting money that had been unlawfully obtained – namely, a pay- ment of NGN300mn (worth nearly $830,000 at current exchange rates) – in August 2013.
Additionally, it has alleged that Adoke obtained another payment through unauthor- ised means in connection with the OPL 245 deal in September 2013. Court documents put this second payment at NGN367.32mn ($1.015mn).
Gbinigie, meanwhile, stands accused of con- spiring with others to forge documents that were used to open an account at First Bank of Nigeria and then using the account to receive $401.5mn.
Aliyu is widely believed to have acted as a middleman for bribe payments involving Jon- athan, the former president, and representatives of Shell and Eni. He has faced charges in Italy for his alleged role in the transfer of OPL 245.
Malabu Oil & Gas, which was originally owned by Etete, arranged to sell the offshore licence area to Eni and Shell for the sum of $1.3bn. Nigerian and Italian officials say that most of the money – $1.1bn – was unlawfully redirected to various middlemen and agents.
OPL lies in the southern Niger River Delta area. Two oilfields, Etan and Zabazaba, have been discovered there. ™
Somalia invites Turkey to explore for oil
SOMALIA TURKEY’S efforts to reduce its energy import bill by securing access to major hydrocarbon reserves was boosted on January 20, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Somalia
Nigeria’s offshore zone, including OPL 245 (Image: PGS)
Turkey and Libya last year  Week 03 22•January•2020 w w w. N E W S B A S E . c o m
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had invited Ankara to explore for oil in its seas. News of this development follows the signing of a controversial maritime agreement between