Malabu Scam: Russian Middleman Reverses Self, Says No Evidence Against Jonathan

A former Russian diplomat, Ednan Agaev, who once alleged that
former President Goodluck Jonathan allegedly received $200 million
in the controversial Malabu deal has reversed himself on the claim,
stressing that the initial statement in which he indicted the
former president was made under duress.

Agaev, a middleman and defendant in the case, helped negotiate
the transfer of OPL 245 oil block to Shell and Eni, two
multinationals at the heart of the scandal. He made the new claim
on Wednesday while giving evidence before an Italian court in Milan
over the controversial Malabu scandal.

Agaev’s initial statement was read but he declined to confirm
the statement. Agaev claimed he was under pressure in the interview
to mention a name.

When confronted with his exact statement alleging that Jonathan
may have received money, a defence lawyer interrupted and objected
to the evidence on payments to the former president. When asked
whether he thought Jonathan got money from the deal, he said his
statement to the FBI should be understood that he thought it was a
possibility money would go to Jonathan, but he had no evidence.

Commenting on his previous statement, Agaev said it was just
speculation and declined to confirm his statement. It was reported
that at this point, the president of the court however silenced him
even as the lawyer continued to interrupt. He promptly denied any
wrongdoing.

In 2017, BuzzFeed quoted a 2017 excerpt of FBI submissions to
Italian authorities wherein Agaev alleged that if Etete actually
paid out bribes to Nigerian officials, “Agaev stated that he would
think President Goodluck Jonathan got at least $200 million of this
money.”

Former President Jonathan who has continued to declare his
innocence on many occasions, recently describing the allegation as
“cheap, predictable and recycled falsehood.”

A statement issued last May by Jonathan’s media adviser,
Ikechukwu Eze, said: “Former President Goodluck Jonathan did not
ask for or collect any bribes, neither has he been charged for
asking or collecting bribes, neither will he ever be charged with
asking for or collecting bribes, because such never happened.”

The Malabu scandal involved the transfer of about $1.1 billion
by Shell and ENI through the Nigerian government to accounts
controlled by a former Nigerian petroleum minister, Dan Etete.

The transaction was authorised in 2011 by Jonathan through some
of his cabinet ministers and the money was payment for OPL 245, one
of Nigeria’s richest oil blocks.

Speaking at the Milan court on Wednesday, Agaev disclosed that
he knew former President Olusegun Obasanjo for the first time in
the 1980s and campaigned for the former president’s release in the
1990s but didn’t learn about OPL 245 until 2008 when working for a
Russian oil company.

He further disclosed that he knew the OPL 245 block was revoked
because Etete was associated with Malabu, the company owning the
block. He alleged further that former President Olusegun Obasanjo
said the block was intended for the late Sani Abacha, a former
Nigerian military ruler.

According to Barnaby Pace, a campaigner at anti-corruption group
Global Witness, who was at the Milan Court, the defendant explained
that after Abacha’s death, the company fell to Etete.

Agaev, who started his career for the Soviet Union Ministry of
Foreign Affairs where he was a senior official for arms control,
disclosed that his job was only to find an investor because Etete
was in charge of negotiating with the Nigerian government and he
didn’t need any help or contacts from him.

The next hearing over the controversial case is scheduled for
July 17.