THERE seems to be no end to the dissonance among government
agencies in prosecuting the anti-corruption war. The ambivalence
evinced again in two recent clear messages from the office of the
Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
In a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, he advised the
Federal Government to drop the Malabu oil block scam trial for lack
of evidence. He has also queried the Acting Chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, for
continuing with the N10 million corruption trial of the Chairman of
the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Danladi Umar, against the backdrop of
two clearances the commission had given him in the past.
Malami’s logic does not sit well in public imagination. An EFCC
clearance does not carry the weight of a discharge and acquittal by
a court. If the agency has fresh evidence that overrides its
earlier position, then it is within its competence to reopen the
case.
The Malabu scam is no more a Nigerian affair alone. In 2015, a
Southwark Crown Court, in Britain, entered a final judicial order
for the seizure of $85 million laundered from the deal. The AGF
told newsmen late last year that Nigeria was set to recover the
funds. Italian police authorities are also prosecuting Royal Dutch
Shell Plc, Eni Spa, Dan Etete, among others, for their alleged
roles, while investigators in Holland, the United States, France
and Switzerland are embroiled in it.
The deal is murky; Etete allegedly initiated it in 1998 as the
Minister of Petroleum under the regime of the late maximum military
ruler, Sani Abacha, when he awarded the OPL 245 – oil block to
Malabu Oil and Gas Limited – said to be largely his, upon the
payment of just $2 million “signature bonus.” The oil well’s
estimated value is $500 billion. Thereafter, protracted ownership
wrangling that involved Shell, Malabu and others ensued. Government
got involved in settling the rift. Shell and Eni eventually bought
it in 2011 for $1.3 billion and the proceeds paid into government
coffers, which it transferred $1.1 billion to Malabu.
According to Italian prosecutors, $466 million out of the money
was laundered via Bureau de change, with which a highly politically
exposed person in Nigeria was bribed.
The so-called amicable resolution of the Malabu tango was when
Mohammed Adoke was the AGF and Diezani Alison-Madueke, the Minister
of Petroleum Resources. The EFCC also wants to hold the duo liable.
But they have denied any wrongdoing. Adoke claimed the sale was
approved to save Nigeria humongous financial losses that could
emanate from arbitration abroad.
However, the EFCC, in its 21-paragraph affidavit before a
Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by John Tsoho, stressed:
“That Italian Police have also conducted extensive investigation on
the fraud….” Evidence abounds for the trial to go ahead, the EFCC
says; but Malami disagrees. There was nothing in the proof of
evidence to support the charge of money laundering or any case of
fraud against the parties, he argued. According to him, the
ex-public officials to be tried acted in their official capacities
with the approval of three presidents.
The AGF’s dogged invalidation of the case does not fly. It is
absurd that every high-profile corruption case in Nigeria dissolves
like salt block in water, whereas, suspects in other countries do
not escape justice. The Siemens and Halliburton bribery cases
adjudicated in France, Germany and the US are sordid instances.
What evidence did the UK Crown Court rely on to seize the $85
million, which Malami had earlier rhapsodised about? And why are
Italian prosecutors unwavering in the trial? The Chairman
Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Itse Sagay’s
curiosity about this turn of events bears repeating. “So, it is
strange that in the home turf, where it originated, and where all
the evidence exists, there is no evidence,” he lamented.
This case has passed through three AGFs with the same
incredulous upshot. But it should not be the same with the Buhari
government. It is a red herring to argue or impute that every
transaction with a presidential assent bears the seal of
legitimacy. No! In fact, dozens of them, as our chequered past
reveals, carry the badge of infamy like the $2.1 billion arms
scandal, for which not a few members of the political elite are
being tried by the EFCC.
In advanced societies, the police routinely question sitting
presidents for abuse of office or they are brought to account after
they had left office. South Korea’s first female president, Park
Geun-hye, for example, was forced out of office because of bribes
received from corporations in return for business favours. She is
now on trial, while her confidante, Choi Soon-sil, was on February
13 sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment and handed a $16.6 million
fine. Similarly, ex-president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva,
received a nine-and-a-half year jail term for a beachfront
apartment gift from a firm he helped win contracts in Petrobas –
the state oil company.
Not a few were bothered when Malami asked the EFCC to send to
his office the list of high-profile corruption cases last year for
common prosecutorial strategies to be forged to avoid needless loss
of cases. Yes, the AGF, under Section 174 (1) (2) (3) of the 1999
Constitution, has omnibus powers to take over any criminal
proceedings instituted by any authority or discontinue the same.
However, such actions “shall have regard to public interest, the
interest of justice….”
It is difficult to see how these constitutional imperatives
would be discharged with his demand. A public official that
appropriated an oil block and it was later sold for $1.3 billion
for his, and others’ enrichment, cannot escape a judicial inquest.
Buhari should not condone this new twist.
Justice Edis of the Crown Court put it more poignantly: “I
cannot simply assume that the Federal Government of Nigeria, which
was in power in 2011 and subsequently until 2015, rigorously
defended the public interest of the people of Nigeria in all
aspects.” So, let the Malabu trial be.
Culled From Punch
THERE seems to be no end to the dissonance among government
agencies in prosecuting the anti-corruption war. The ambivalence
evinced again in two recent clear messages from the office of the
Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
In a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, he advised the
Federal Government to drop the Malabu oil block scam trial for lack
of evidence. He has also queried the Acting Chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, for
continuing with the N10 million corruption trial of the Chairman of
the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Danladi Umar, against the backdrop of
two clearances the commission had given him in the past.
Malami’s logic does not sit well in public imagination. An EFCC
clearance does not carry the weight of a discharge and acquittal by
a court. If the agency has fresh evidence that overrides its
earlier position, then it is within its competence to reopen the
case.
The Malabu scam is no more a Nigerian affair alone. In 2015, a
Southwark Crown Court, in Britain, entered a final judicial order
for the seizure of $85 million laundered from the deal. The AGF
told newsmen late last year that Nigeria was set to recover the
funds. Italian police authorities are also prosecuting Royal Dutch
Shell Plc, Eni Spa, Dan Etete, among others, for their alleged
roles, while investigators in Holland, the United States, France
and Switzerland are embroiled in it.
The deal is murky; Etete allegedly initiated it in 1998 as the
Minister of Petroleum under the regime of the late maximum military
ruler, Sani Abacha, when he awarded the OPL 245 – oil block to
Malabu Oil and Gas Limited – said to be largely his, upon the
payment of just $2 million “signature bonus.” The oil well’s
estimated value is $500 billion. Thereafter, protracted ownership
wrangling that involved Shell, Malabu and others ensued. Government
got involved in settling the rift. Shell and Eni eventually bought
it in 2011 for $1.3 billion and the proceeds paid into government
coffers, which it transferred $1.1 billion to Malabu.
According to Italian prosecutors, $466 million out of the money
was laundered via Bureau de change, with which a highly politically
exposed person in Nigeria was bribed.
The so-called amicable resolution of the Malabu tango was when
Mohammed Adoke was the AGF and Diezani Alison-Madueke, the Minister
of Petroleum Resources. The EFCC also wants to hold the duo liable.
But they have denied any wrongdoing. Adoke claimed the sale was
approved to save Nigeria humongous financial losses that could
emanate from arbitration abroad.
However, the EFCC, in its 21-paragraph affidavit before a
Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by John Tsoho, stressed:
“That Italian Police have also conducted extensive investigation on
the fraud….” Evidence abounds for the trial to go ahead, the EFCC
says; but Malami disagrees. There was nothing in the proof of
evidence to support the charge of money laundering or any case of
fraud against the parties, he argued. According to him, the
ex-public officials to be tried acted in their official capacities
with the approval of three presidents.
The AGF’s dogged invalidation of the case does not fly. It is
absurd that every high-profile corruption case in Nigeria dissolves
like salt block in water, whereas, suspects in other countries do
not escape justice. The Siemens and Halliburton bribery cases
adjudicated in France, Germany and the US are sordid instances.
What evidence did the UK Crown Court rely on to seize the $85
million, which Malami had earlier rhapsodised about? And why are
Italian prosecutors unwavering in the trial? The Chairman
Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Itse Sagay’s
curiosity about this turn of events bears repeating. “So, it is
strange that in the home turf, where it originated, and where all
the evidence exists, there is no evidence,” he lamented.
This case has passed through three AGFs with the same
incredulous upshot. But it should not be the same with the Buhari
government. It is a red herring to argue or impute that every
transaction with a presidential assent bears the seal of
legitimacy. No! In fact, dozens of them, as our chequered past
reveals, carry the badge of infamy like the $2.1 billion arms
scandal, for which not a few members of the political elite are
being tried by the EFCC.
In advanced societies, the police routinely question sitting
presidents for abuse of office or they are brought to account after
they had left office. South Korea’s first female president, Park
Geun-hye, for example, was forced out of office because of bribes
received from corporations in return for business favours. She is
now on trial, while her confidante, Choi Soon-sil, was on February
13 sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment and handed a $16.6 million
fine. Similarly, ex-president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva,
received a nine-and-a-half year jail term for a beachfront
apartment gift from a firm he helped win contracts in Petrobas –
the state oil company.
Not a few were bothered when Malami asked the EFCC to send to
his office the list of high-profile corruption cases last year for
common prosecutorial strategies to be forged to avoid needless loss
of cases. Yes, the AGF, under Section 174 (1) (2) (3) of the 1999
Constitution, has omnibus powers to take over any criminal
proceedings instituted by any authority or discontinue the same.
However, such actions “shall have regard to public interest, the
interest of justice….”
It is difficult to see how these constitutional imperatives
would be discharged with his demand. A public official that
appropriated an oil block and it was later sold for $1.3 billion
for his, and others’ enrichment, cannot escape a judicial inquest.
Buhari should not condone this new twist.
Justice Edis of the Crown Court put it more poignantly: “I
cannot simply assume that the Federal Government of Nigeria, which
was in power in 2011 and subsequently until 2015, rigorously
defended the public interest of the people of Nigeria in all
aspects.” So, let the Malabu trial be.
Culled From Punch
Read more https://nairalaw.com/malamis-curious-stance-on-malabu-oil-block/