By Abiola Olawale
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) sitting in Jabi, on Thursday, dismissed charges of fraudulent conduct levelled against a former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mohammed Adoke, in the handling of Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245, popularly referred to as the Malabu Oil deal.
The court also discharged six others in a fraud lawsuit brought before it by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The anti-graft agency had charged Adoke before the FCT High Court, Abuja, on January 15, 2020, along with Aliyu Abubakar, Gbinije of Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd, Nigeria Agip Exploration Ltd, Shell Ultra Deep Nigeria Ltd, and Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company Ltd (SNEPCo).
The former AGF was accused of collecting a gratification of N300m from Abubakar over the OPL 245 resolution.
Ruling on the matter, the Presiding judge, Justice Abubakar Kutigi held the “no case” submission made by Adoke and other defendants in the 40-count amended charge, marked: FCT/HC/CR/151/2020.
Justice Kutigi held that the prosecution failed to provide evidence in proof of the essential elements concerning the offences charged. He ruled that allowing the case to remain in court would do untold injustice to the defendants, who ought not to be tried on the charge in the first place.
He proceeded to discharge all the defendants.
It would be recalled that the issue has been on since April 9, 1998, when the then Federal Military Government awarded OPL 245 to Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd, said to be owned mainly by Mohammed Abacha, son of former military ruler, Sani Abacha, and Dan Etete, who was the petroleum minister at the time.
President Olusegun Obasanjo, meanwhile, revoked Malabu’s licence and assigned the oil block to Shell.
Malibu then went to court, and ownership was reverted to it in 2006 after it reached an out-of-court settlement with the Federal Government.
The OPL 245 also known as the Malabu Oil deal, has been regarded as the biggest corruption case in the oil sector of Nigeria.
The deal was awarded by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dan Etete. However, the deal was said to have been controversially agreed on as the Royal Dutch Shell and ENI companies allegedly bought the oil block illegally.
Adoke was also alleged to be an accomplice in the illegal transfer of the oil block to Shell and ENI. The former AGF was alleged to have received N300 million in connection with the sale of the OPL 245.
However, on March 17, 2021, a Milan Court acquitted Shell and ENI of the alleged corruption regarding the purchase of the OML 245.
