In the fresh
suit marked FHC/ABJ/ CS/506/2017, the plaintiffs, prayed the court to restrain
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, from continuing to treat
OPL 245 as proceed of crime.
Controversy
over the disputed Oil Prospecting License, OPL, 245, took another dimension on yesterday, as son of late Head of State,
Gen. Sani Abacha, Mohammed, approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, asking
it to declare him and a firm, Pecos Energy Ltd, as genuine owners of Malabu Oil
& Gas Limited.
In the suit
which has Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd as the 1st plaintiff, the litigants, further
sought for an order stopping EFCC from interfering with their right to explore
and prospect for petroleum in the area of OPL 245.
Cited as defendants in the
suit were Mr Kweku Amafegha (described as an initial subscriber and director of
Malabu), Munamuna Seidougha and Amaran Joseph (described as purported to be
directors and allottees of Malabu).
The 4th
to10th defendants in the suit were the Corporate Affairs Commission, Shell
Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited,
the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Attorney-General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, the Minister of Petroleum Resources and the Department of
Petroleum Resources.
OPL 245 has
been subject of controversy and multi-dimensional investigation that has led to
preferment of criminal charges against many oil giants, including Shell and
Agip, in a case involving alleged $1.2billion fraud. FG alleged that Abacha
fraudulently awarded the disputed oil
bloc to Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd against all known regulations, a process it
said involved “high scale bribery and corruption by top management of the
company and some government officials”.
It alleged
that a former Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Mohammed Adoke, SAN, the
Minister of Petroleum Resources under late General Sani Abacha, Mr Dan Etete,
an oil mogul, Aliyu Abubakar and Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd, had sometime in
2000, corruptly received the aggregate sum of $801,000,000.00 (Eight hundred
and one million Dollars) in relation to the grant of oil prospecting license in
respect of OPL 245 from Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company, Nigeria
Agip Exploration Ltd, and ENI SPA.
Aside Shell
and Agip who are still laying claim to the controversial oil bloc, FG also
cited four Italians, Ralph Wetzels, Casula Roberto, Pujatti Stefeno, Burrafati
Sebestiano and ENI SPA, as defendants in the suit marked CR/124/17 and dated
February 28, pending before the high court. However, Mohammed Abacha and his
co-plaintiffs in the present action, while insisting they are the real owners
of Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd, denied being a part of the alleged fraudulent
deal.
The
plaintiffs are praying the court for a declaration that Mohammed and Pencos
Energy Ltd (2nd and 3rd plaintiffs), jointly hold seventy percent shareholding
in the equity of the 1st plaintiff (Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd). Besides, they
want among other things, “A declaration that the 2nd and 3rd plaintiffs have
never divested themselves of their respective shoes in the equity of the 1st
plaintiff and continue to be shareholders and Directors of the 1st plaintiff.
“A
declaration that all the resolutions passed by the purported directors of the
1st plaintiff and all alterations made to the 1st plaintiff’s document in its
original file at the 4th defendant’s office which affected and changed the
shareholding structure of the 1st plaintiff from 1998 to 2010 being
unauthorised, are illegal, null, void and of no effect.
No way after all that stolen moneyey
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