Mohammed Adoke, Nigeria’s former attorney-general of the federation, has alleged that ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo revoked oil prospecting lease (OPL) 245 in 2001 and reassigned it to Shell after the block’s owners refused to surrender a 60 per cent stake.
Adoke made the claim in Abuja on Tuesday during the public presentation of his book, OPL 245: The inside story of the $1.3bn Nigerian oil block.
OPL 245 was originally awarded to Malabu Oil and Gas in 1998 under the military government of the late Sani Abacha. The block later became the subject of high-profile corruption probes and court cases in several countries after Malabu sold its entire interest to Shell and Italy’s Eni in 2011 for $1.1 billion. The oil companies also paid $210 million to the Nigerian government as a signature bonus.
At the time, the Obasanjo administration was widely reported to have revoked the licence over alleged irregularities in the original allocation and concerns about Malabu’s opaque ownership structure, which was linked to Dan Etete, a former petroleum minister.
Read Also: Oil prices slide to $58 a barrel, lowest level since February 2021
Obasanjo has repeatedly denied involvement in the deal. In a 2017 interview, he said he had no knowledge of the transaction. However, documents later published by Nigerian media indicated that agreements existed between Malabu and the federal government during his presidency.
Adoke, who was charged under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in connection with the OPL 245 affair, was later discharged and acquitted by two federal high courts in Abuja.
Speaking at the book reading, Adoke said powerful interests sought control of the oil block’s proceeds, creating what he described as a “dog-eat-dog” struggle that ultimately led to the licence being revoked.
“Some people in government wanted to acquire 60 per cent stake in OPL 245,” he said. “And because the owners did not want to relinquish 60 per cent, that was the real reason why OPL 245 was revoked.”
He alleged that individuals who attempted to acquire stakes in the block were associates of Obasanjo and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, though he declined to name names.
Adoke said Obasanjo’s handling of the matter amounted to an error of judgement and was not in Nigeria’s best interest.
“He didn’t act in the best interest of Nigeria,” the former attorney-general said.
He also criticised Obasanjo’s denial of approving the transaction, suggesting it may have been due to memory loss.
“He was the one that signed off the resolution agreement. He was the one that gave the approval,” Adoke said, adding that he published documents showing Obasanjo’s approval after the former president accused him of lying.
Adoke said Obasanjo had promised to apologise if evidence of his approval was produced, but failed to do so after the documents were made public.
“All I want from him is an apology for damaging my reputation,” Adoke said.
