Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke
The House of Representatives on Wednesday, through an adhoc committee, reopened investigation into the fraudulent $1.1bn award of Oil Prospecting Licence 245, popularly known as ‘Malabu Oil Deal.’
It is an attempt by lawmakers to save Nigeria from losing “N500bn”.
The committee, chaired by a member from Kwara State, Mr. Razak Atunwa, held a session with some of the key stakeholders involved in the deal at the National Assembly in Abuja. They included Shell and Agip.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was also present and was directed to provide information on the outcome of its investigation of the Malabu oil deal within two weeks.
Reps say, the “lucrative” OPL 245 occupies an area of 1,958 square kilometres and holds up to “9.2billion” barrels of crude oil.
The committee recalled how Chief Dan Etete, a former minister under the administration of the late Gen. Sani Abacha, awarded the block to himself in 1998, using Malabu Oil and Gas.
“He awarded it to himself for just $20m, out which he paid only $2m”, the committee stated.
But former President Olusegun Obasanjo revoked the block,and it was later sold to Shell for only $210m. This ignited legal battles by aggrieved parties.
In any case, while the Malabu case was still in court, former attorney-general MohammedAdoke and ex-oil minister Deziani Alison-Madueke, to be summoned by the committee, allegedly “contrived a series of complex agreement of a questionable nature.”
It said, “The summary of the agreement was that Shell and Nigeria Agip Exploration paid $1.1bn to the Federal Government for the oil block.”
According to the committee, instead of paying the money into the Federation Account, Adoke and Alison-Madueke “caused the money to be transferred to Malabu, which then spirited the money to various foreign bank accounts.”
cpcnews.org 