Rights Group wants Malabu Oilfield Licence Revoked
A Nigerian civil rights group on Tuesday launched a legal case aimed at forcing the Federal Government to revoke a disputed 2011 oilfield deal at the centre of a string of international corruption investigations.
The case, heard at a court in Lagos, relates to the purchase of Oil Prospecting Licence 245, an offshore oilfield in Nigeria, by oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and Eni in 2011, according to Reuters. The field has estimated reserves of nine billion barrels.
At the core of the case is a $1.3bn payment from Shell and Eni to secure the block from Malabu Oil and Gas, allegedly controlled by former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dan Etete.
Rasheed Adegoke, lawyer to Human and Environmental Development Agenda, said the rights group decided to go to court after it became aware of a trial in Milan relating to corruption allegations over the oilfield purchase.
HEDA is a rights group at the forefront of Nigeria’s corruption fight.
“After the judgement in Milan the Nigerian government refused to do something about it, we decided to go to court. What we are saying is that the attorney general should revoke the licence granted to Mr. Dan Etete, when he was minister,” Adegoke told Reuters after the hearing.
In December, Shell and Eni were ordered to stand trial over alleged corruption in Nigeria. Milan prosecutors alleged that bribes were paid to win the licence to explore the field, which never entered into production.
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, was absent in court on Tuesday. However, Etete’s lawyer told the court that his client would seek to join the case to defend ownership of the oilfield. The case was adjourned to June 13.
Etete was Nigeria’s oil minister at the time of the deal and was convicted of money laundering in France in 2007.
Another local court has set a hearing over the same oilfield for June 18, after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission filed a case accusing several former government officials, former and current managers at Shell and Eni of being part of a scheme to defraud the Nigerian government.
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