Presidency keeps sealed lips over Buhari’s directive on Malabu oil scam

By : Terhemba Daka, Abuja

Date: 21 February 2018 5:19am WAT

(FILES) This file photo taken on December 1, 2012 shows an oil rig in Sekondi waters, Ghana. An international maritime tribunal on September 23, 2017 backed Ghana in a dispute with Ivory Coast over a contested boundary that cuts through lucrative offshore oil fields. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea found that "Ghana did not violate the sovereign rights" of Ivory Coast by drilling for oil in the region. PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP

The Presidency has kept sealed lips ‎over reports that President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to ensure that those involved in the Malabu OPL 245 scam are made to face the law.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan and two members of his cabinet, Mohammed Adoke (Attorney-General of the Federation) and ‎Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke (Minister of Petroleum Resources) who were named in the saga had reportedly denied wrongdoings.

Efforts by The Guardian to get reactions from spokesmen of the President, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, last night did not yield result.

A text message sent to them at press time was not responded to. The text reads:
“Distinguish SA Sir, please confirm reports that President Buhari has directed the EFCC to ensure that those involved in the Malabu OPL 245 scam are made to face prosecution. My Editors have asked me to get your reaction. Regards sir.”

The scandal over the OPL 245 oil block began in 2011 when the President Jonathan administration approved it’s purchase by Shell and Agip-Eni from Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd., a firm with ties to Dan Etete, a minister of petroleum from 1995 to 1998.

The EFCC has been pursuing fraud and criminal conspiracy charges against Adoke, Etete and their alleged accomplices since 2016.