Adoke: OPL 245 litigation was a lucrative oil block for lawyers

By Abubakar Yunusa

Mohammed Bello Adoke, former attorney-general of the federation (AGF), says the oil prospecting licence (OPL) 245 litigation was a lucrative oil block for lawyers.

Adoke detailed his account in his book titled ‘OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3bn Nigerian Oil Block’.

Reviewing the memoir on Thursday in Abuja during its public presentation, Reuben Abati, a journalist and TV host, quoted Adoke as expressing displeasure over the case.

Adoke said it is “difficult to see, however, how justice has been done to society in the case of OPL 245”.

Beyond the “arrested development” of the asset, Adoke said the OPL 245 litigation was “as lucrative as OPL 245 itself for lawyers and their allies” in the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

However, he described the litigation as “a monumental waste of resources”.

Also, Adoke said although he was discharged and acquitted, “the scars remain”.

He said this was due to his rise to “an esteemed position of being the chief law officer of the federation, only to be humiliated by a desperate, vicious, and ruthless government”.

According to the ex-AGF, the book referenced four sub-texts.

The first theme, he said, focused on how state institutions, such “as the EFCC and the judiciary, can be used to pursue unmitigated acts of persecution”.

Adoke said the second “is the fickleness of the human mind” and the “deep-seated hatred that some nurse in their minds”.

He described the third subtext as “the use and abuse of the media”.

The fourth point, Adoke noted, is how people like him — those who serve in government — are treated discourages other well-meaning, public-spirited individuals from serving their country.

Awarded to Malabu Oil and Gas in 1998 by the Sani Abacha administration, the OPL 245 became the focus of global corruption investigations, criminal prosecutions, and civil lawsuits after the firm sold its entire stake to Shell and Eni for $1.1 billion in 2011.

While the oil companies paid a $210 million signature bonus to the Nigerian government, both local and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) alleged that the $1.1 billion, in fact, is a disguised bribe to Nigerian politicians who facilitated the transaction.

Criminal charges were brought against Adoke under Buhari’s administration, while Italian prosecutors also charged Shell, Eni, Dan Etete (the former petroleum minister behind the Malabu deal), and other individuals to court in Milan.

In addition, a $1.7 billion compensation claim was pursued by the Nigerian government against JP Morgan in the UK, accusing the bank of improperly transferring proceeds from the OPL 245 sale.

Eventually, courts in Italy, the United Kingdom (UK), and Nigeria ruled that there was no evidence of corruption or proof that Nigeria was defrauded.

Also, the United States (US) department of justice, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Dutch authorities dropped their investigations into the Malabu case, citing lack of incriminating evidence.

Similarly, two federal high courts in Abuja acquitted and discharged Adoke on related charges.

Although, Adoke indicted Buhari, lawyers and foreign non-governmental organisations (NGO) in the Malabu saga in his memoir, the former AGF said he has forgiven everyone behind the OPL 245 ordeal.