Saheed Ibrahim

Claim: People’s Gazette Nigeria claims that President Tinubu has returned the OPL 245 oil block to Shell and Eni

Full Text

As Nigerians continue to express their displeasure with the administration of  President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu because of rising hardship, several posts have filled the internet, especially social media platforms. 

Amidst all these, there is a planned nationwide protest slated for August 1-10 and a hashtag on social media, especially X, that President #TinubuMustGo. These agitations are allegedly fuelled by increasing hunger and economic frustrations in Nigeria.

One of the posts that has garnered attention on X is a post made by a handle named NEFERTITI (@firstladyship). The post has attracted over 52,000 views, 562 reposts, 6 quotes, 907 likes and 45 bookmarks.

Even though the post was made on January 31, it has popped up as more and more Nigerians continue to express their frustration against President Tinubu’s government. The handle shared a screenshot of a news story by the People’s Gazette Nigeria, with the headline “EXCLUSIVE: Tinubu screws Nigeria over in Paris, returns OPL 245 ownership to Shell-Eni after cornering lucrative onshore assets to nephew Wale’s Oando”.

Screenshot of the People’s Gazette’s story

People’s Gazette claimed that President Tinubu has transferred the ownership of the OPL 245 oil block to Shell and Eni.

With the controversies surrounding the oil block since 1998, we conducted a fact-check to set the records straight.

The OPL 245 Oil Block

OPL 245 oil block located in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. The ownership of the oil block, a highly valuable block, has been the subject of extensive legal battles and controversies for years. The block, initially awarded to Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd in 1998, has seen multiple ownership disputes involving Shell and Eni.

Narrating the history of the controversial oil block, The Cable writes that, “in 1998, OPL 245 was awarded to Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd during the administration of the late Sani Abacha, the then military head of state.

“Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd is believed to be owned mainly by Mohammed Abacha, son of the late head of state, and Dan Etete, who was the petroleum minister at the time.

“On July 2, 2001, former President Olusegun Obasanjo revoked Malabu’s licence and assigned the oil block to Shell — without a public bid.

“Then, Malabu went to court, but the ownership was reverted to it in 2006 after the company reached an out-of-court settlement with the federal government. Shell fought back and commenced an arbitration against Nigeria. However, when former President Goodluck Jonathan came to power in 2010, the controversy appeared to have been resolved with Shell and Eni agreeing to buy the oil block from Malabu for $1.1 billion. BusinessDay reported $1.3 billion.

“The oil companies also paid $210 million as a signature bonus to the federal government of Nigeria. However, foreign anti-corruption activists claimed that the deal was corrupt. Adoke was the AGF and the minister of justice when the deal was sealed.

“When former President Buhari came to office in 2015, his administration started a series of litigation against Royal Dutch Shell, Eni/Nigeria Agip Exploration (NAE), Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep (SNUD) Ltd, and Shell Nigeria Exploration Company (SNEPCO) — as well as Adoke over allegations of fraud and corruption in the OPL 245 deal.

“The parties in the case all denied the allegations. The Nigerian government lost most of the suits filed abroad on the allegations of fraud and corruption in the OPL case.

“In March 2021, an Italian court acquitted Shell, Eni and all defendants of corruption charges in the $1.1 billion deal.

“The prosecutors subsequently filed an appeal but Celestina Gravina, the Italian attorney general, said the case “has no basis… in fact, it should have finished earlier” and it was struck out in July 2022.”

Who Is Really In Control of the Oil Block?

In February this year, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, said President Tinubu directed that all disputes surrounding the OPL 245 oil block should be amicably resolved. 

Lokpobiri, as quoted by The Cable, said: “The previous administration initiated most of the cases that we are talking about today, and they took us to court, while we took Eni, Malabu, others to different courts in Europe, Canada, etc, but we didn’t win any of the cases”.

On February 1, 2024, a Punch Newspaper report concludes that: “The Malabu OPL 245 deal remains controversial, with lingering questions about corruption and the legality of the transactions. The Nigerian government is considering ending further litigation and potentially allowing the development of the block to proceed.

“The Malabu OPL 245 case highlights the challenges of corruption in the extractive industries and the complexities of international legal battles involving multiple jurisdictions”.

With the court rulings and unending controversies surrounding the oil block, it is difficult to ascertain who owns and controls it.

‘Tinubu’s Alleged Personal Interest’

Meanwhile, the People’s Gazette, in the January 31, 2024 story, claims that the presidency has returned the ownership of the block to Shell and Eni. The news channel added that the President only returned the ownership of the oil block to the investors for his own personal interest. It claimed that an official said the deal was the main reason the president travelled to Paris.

Gazette also alleged that in order to finalise the agreement, “Eni had transferred its onshore assets to Oando, run by the president’s nephew, Wale Tinubu. 

However, the news channel only referred to “two officials familiar with the development” as sources, which we cannot consider as credible. 

No document or name of an official of the government was provided as evidence to back the claim by the news channel.

 ‘Judgment in Your Own Favour’

On July 3 at the annual NOG Energy Week in Abuja, the Minister of State Petroleum Resources announced that all issues pertaining to the asset had been settled.

In response to the Minister, Mohammed Abacha, the son of late Head of States, Sanni Abacha, said the OPL 245 saga has not ended.

According to ThisDay, Abacha in a July 4 letter addressed to Lokpobiri, through Reuben Atabo, his lawyer, said no resolution had been reached. 

The letter reads in part: “From the foregoing, it is evident that the remarks made by your esteemed self during the opening session of the Nigerian Energy Week is not only misleading, but bereft of the factual situation on ground.

“Furthermore, the said remarks are an affront on the authority of our courts, having regard to the fact that the matter is subjudice before various courts in Nigeria.

“From the various courts, it can be seen that the federal government of Nigeria is a party to the ongoing suits and therefore the said remarks made by your esteemed self, amounts to writing judgment in your own favour, notwithstanding the fact that you are a party to the suits”.

The letter also demanded that the Minister retracts his statement that the issue has been resolved within 14 days after the letter was received or further legal action would be taken.

Similar reports can be found here and here.

However, according to Leadership, the Minister insisted that the oil block belongs to the Federal Government and he has no issue with Abacha’s family. Similar reports can be found here and here. 

Conclusion 

From these available reports, it can be inferred that the controversy surrounding the OPL 245 oil block might not have been resolved and we found no evidence that President Tinubu has returned ownership of the block to Shell and Eni as claimed by Peoples Gazette Nigeria.