AGF Malami opens up on Malabu oil deal
- The last has not been heard of the controversial Malabu oil deal
- Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and minister of justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), has spoken on the deal
- Malami said there is no conclusive evidence to nail those named in the deal
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and minister of justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), has said there is no conclusive evidence to nail those named in the controversial Malabu oil deal.
Three ministers in the Goodluck Jonathan administration; former minister of justice, Mr Mohammed Adoke, his petroleum and finance ministry counterparts, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke and Mr Olusegun Aganga, had been named in the deal.
The $1.092 billion controversial Malabu oil deal has been in the news since last year.
Malami however said that the payment of the money into an escrow account by the former ministers, instead of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, was illegal.
READ ALSO: UK awaits Nigeria to recover Dan Etete's loot
The minister made the comment on Tuesday, December 13 when he appeared before the the House of Representatives ad hoc Committee on the Alleged Corruption, Malpractices and Breach of Due Process in the Award of Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 chaired by Honourable Razak Atunwa from Kwara state.
Malami said: “One thing I have to bring to your notice is that the investigation is ongoing. I cannot with certainty jump to the conclusion of an indictment.
“The investigation is from different perspectives because of the criminality, breach of contract and associated elements.
“What I am saying in essence is we are at the stage of investigation and indeed even those that were presumably considered to have played a role are equally being given opportunities to make presentations.”
The minister however assured the committee that any persons indicted in the Malabu probe would face the wrath of the law.
Thisday reports that OPL 245 was awarded to Malabu Oil and Gas Limited belonging to a former petroleum minister, Chief Dan Etete.
After the award of the oil block, a legal dispute arose between Shell and Malabu over the ownership of the oil asset believed to hold several hundreds of millions in crude reserves.
The dispute was not eventually settled till 2012, when the Goodluck Jonathan administration called the parties to reach an out-of-court settlement over the ownership of the oil block.
Shell, Agip and Total paid $1.092 billion into a designated escrow account to farm into oil block.
Of the $1.092 billion, it is believed that about $600 million was paid to Etete by the federal government, raising eyebrows about the propriety of the transaction.
READ ALSO: Businessman reveals beneficiaries of $1.092b malabu oil deal
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara said the deal resulted to monumental revenue loss to the country in the face of dwindling revenue of the country.
Source: Legit.ng
