The immediate past President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has dismissed as false, allegation that he was involved in receiving ‘kickbacks’amountting to $1.3 Billion in the controversial OPL 245 Malabu oil block deal for which giants: ENI and Royal Dutch Shell are being investigated.
Reacting to reports in the media earlier today that Italian prosecutors have linked him to receiving kickbacks as part of a $1.3 billion deal, Jonathan said that all the allegations were more of what he called ‘innuendo, rather than factual evidence.’
Former President Jonathan made it clear that he was not accused, indicted or charged for corruptly collecting any monies as kickbacks or bribes from ENI by the Italian authorities or any other law enforcement body the world over.
In a statement today, Tuesday, by his media adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, Dr. Jonathan said that the the negotiations and transactions for the oil block deal predate his presidency, adding that the whole thing started on 6th May 2010 and ended on 29th May 2015.
“It may interest those promoting this false narrative to know that all the documents relating to the transactions, issues and decisions of the Federal Government on the Malabo issue, during the Jonathan administration, are in the office of the Attorney General of the Federation/Minister of Justice.
“As President of Nigeria, there is no doubt that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan met with executives of all the oil majors operating in Nigeria and urged them to, amongst other things, support the growth of the Nigerian oil industry by ramping up their investments and comply with the Local Content Act that he promoted and signed into law.
“We however wish to state, for emphasis, that at no time did the former President hold private meetings with representatives of ENI to discuss pecuniary issues. All the meetings and discussions former President Jonathan had with ENI, other IOCs and some indigenous operators were conducted officially, and in the presence of relevant Nigerian Government officials and were done in the best interest of the country.
“We make bold to point out that the former President never sent any Abubakar Aliyu, as the innuendoes in the false report suggest, to ENI, the IOCs or any indigenous operator to seek favour or collect any gratification on his behalf.
“We will like to point out for the umpteenth time that whether in office or out of office, former President Jonathan does not own any bank account, aircraft or real estate outside Nigeria. Anyone with contrary information is challenged to publicly publish same.
“As the President who signed the Freedom of Information Act into law, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan lifted the veil on governance and encouraged transparency knowing that evil breeds in secrecy. It is the opinion of the former President that journalists and media houses should take advantage of this law in their investigative journalism, rather than rely on hearsay.
“We hope that these clarifications will help guide future reports which should be factual.
Earlier in the day, media reports had admitted that court documents filed late last month in the city of Milan did not feature Jonathan, who left office in May 2015, and Diezani Alison-Madueke, his Petroleum Minister who was also the first woman president of OPEC, on the list.
The reports said that however, that Jonathan and Diezani are alleged to have played a central role in the deal, which saw ENI and Shell make a $1.3 billion payment in 2011 for an offshore oil block in Nigeria.
Prosecutors, who filed a case against 11 people, including senior executives from the two oil majors and the companies themselves, allege that ENI Chief Executive, Claudio Descalzi, and his predecessor, Paolo Scaroni, met Jonathan in person to thrash out the deal, which also involved former British intelligence agents working as advisors for Shell.
Prosecutors allege that ENI and Shell executives worked with Nigerian businessman Dan Etete, who was oil Minister under the military ruler Sani Abacha from 1995 to 1998.
Etete’s company, Malabu was the fraudulent holder of the OPL 245 block, according to the court documents.
Prosecutors further allege that after talks in Milan and Abuja, the block was bought illegally by the oil majors in contravention of domestic laws, without competitive tendering and with full, unconditional exemption from all national taxes.
A total of $801.5 million was allegedly transferred to Etete’s Malabu accounts, of which $466 million was converted into cash in Nigeria and used for remunerating government officials, including Jonathan and Alison-Madueke.
A further $54 million was withdrawn by Abubakar Aliyu, whom prosecutors describe as an agent of Jonathan while the beneficiaries of the money went on a shopping spree buying property, aeroplanes and armoured cars.
Earlier, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had recently pressed charges in connection with the same Malabu oil block deal.
That was even as ENI and Royal Dutch Shell denied wrongdoing as Alison-Madueke who is facing a flurry of graft allegations on suspicion of bribery and money laundering also denied the allegations. [myad]
