EFCC proposes compensation for Abacha to end OPL 245 deadlock

THE CABLE

The final resolution of the OPL 245 controversy now depends on a proposal by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a compensation to Mohammed Abacha, son of former head of state, TheCable understands.

The development of the oil block, described as one of Africa’s richest, has been stalled since President Muhammadu Buhari came to office in 2015.

The younger Abacha is laying claim to the ownership of Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd, the company originally awarded the oil prospecting licence (OPL) in 1998 by Sani Abacha, his father.

It later emerged that Dan Etete, Abacha’s minister of petroleum, also had an interest in the company.

The licence was revoked by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001 in a matter unrelated to Etete’s interest in Malabu.

After a prolonged legal tussle following the revocation, Obasanjo agreed to an out-of-court settlement in 2006 to restore the block to Malabu and this was effected by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011.

Shell and ENI then acquired full rights to OPL 245 in a $1.3 billion deal brokered by the Nigerian government.

Foreign watchdogs later raised issues with the 2011 settlement, alleging that it was fraught with fraud.

However, all subsequent criminal and civil cases in Italy and the UK have returned a verdict of “not guilty” on the oil companies and other accused persons.

But the Buhari government refused to convert the OPL to an oil mining licence/lease (OML) for the Etan and Zabazaba fields being developed by ENI.

This is believed to have stalled the addition of hundreds of thousands of barrels to Nigeria’s current oil production, thereby denying the country the windfall from high crude prices caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

‘ABACHA IS THE ACTUAL SHAREHOLDER’

Buhari, in an attempt to break the OPL 245 impasse, recently approved that it should be converted to a mining licence for production to commence.

In the 2022 terms of engagement “without prejudice” discussion between Nigeria and ENI, EFCC was asked to discontinue pending litigation in Nigeria against the oil company and all issues were to be resolved.

A team made up of officials of the ministry of petroleum resources, ministry of justice, Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the EFCC was constituted to examine all the related issues and advise the anti-graft agency on the way forward.

However, the EFCC objected to the proposal to convert the OPL to OML and for the court case to be discontinued, saying it “did not consider the interest of the actual shareholders of the Malabu Oil and Gas Limited (Mohammed Sani Abacha and Pecos Energy Limited) culminating in the various litigations regarding OPL 245. This action has globally undermined the image of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

The EFCC requested the release of the team members “for the continuation of the assignment”.

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