An Ijaw socio-political group, the Ijaw Union, has challenged the Acting President to probe former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s links with the intractable Malabu Oil & Gas oil bloc to convince Nigerians of its readiness to fight corruption.
They took a swipe at former President Olusegun Obasanjo over the denial of his involvement in the ongoing investigations on the Malabu/OPL 245 saga. The group said the former leader cannot exonerate or absolve himself of guilt in the mess because he, as the President and Minister for Petroleum Resources had ordered the revocation of the oil block 245 from Malabu Oil and Gas in 2001.
In a statement signed by Ebitari Dombraye and Wilson Awengidappa on behalf of the Ijaw Union, the group decried resort to “unnecessary sensationalism” by the former statesman and called on the Federal Government to conduct a thorough investigation into the Malabu oilgate if indeed it is committed to fighting corruption in the country.
They alleged that even despite the clean bill of health given by the Christopher Kolade Commission which reviewed all previously awarded oil blocks in the country; President Obsanjo went ahead with revocation.
“Let us recall that in 2001, the Obasanjo government revoked the award to Malabu Oil & Gas even after the Christopher Kolade commission set up to review previously awarded oil blocks in the country, found nothing untoward in the award to Malabu Oil & Gas. This revocation did not follow due process or indeed the Petroleum Act and what was even more curious; no reason whatsoever was given for the revocation.”
The group said after withdrawing the block from Malabu by an “obnoxious fiat,” the former President awarded same to Shell even though Shell which until the revocation was the technical partner to Malabu on the same oil block.
“The former President did this in blatant disregard of the Petroleum Act and Indigenisation policy, a major consideration for the award.
Despite revoking the block, the ex-President also went ahead to negotiate directly with Shell where they extracted a $210 million from Shell as against $20 million earlier awsarded to Malabu with plans to appoint a crony to take ownership of the asset with Shell.
The group said the former President had to reinstate the Malabu licence after protracted court cases and a national assembly resolution to lay the asset to waste even as the approval was validated by the two successive governments.
“Former President Obasanjo’s government reinstated the asset to Malabu with Chief Obasanjo as Petroleum Minister and Bayo Ojo (SAN), as Attorney General, the Yar’Adua government validated it with Odein Ajumogobia (SAN) as Petroleum Minister and Michael Aoondaka as Attorney General and finally the Goodluck Johnathan administration with Diezani Madueke as minister and Mohammed Adoke (SAN) as Attorney General. If Chief Obasanjo’s claim has any currency, are we saying none of these individuals and ministries and the plethora of egg-heads that populate them including officials of Shell and ENI the other counter parties, could not have pointed out the fact that the 2006 approval to return the block to Malabu was done without the knowledge or consent of the President or Minister of Petroleum who were one and the same person?”
The group said rather than being seen as another Niger Delta trouble makers, their agitation is to stoutly pre-empt any attempt to sacrifice an indigene of the Niger Delta as the fall guy for a transaction that has gathered notoriety in the public domain, whilst others who have no stake in the Niger Delta or its people, emerge from the shadows to benefit from the demise of one of our people.
According to them, it is an aberration that the minorities who bear the brunt of the nation’s economic prosperity would be precluded from it. “Is it such an aberration to the Nigerian state that the minorities who live and suffer under the consequences of oil production and environmental degradation should not ever have any say or right over their own God given resources? Must all those who benefit in any shape or form come from outside the region? What is our stake in Nigeria? What is our standing?”
They charged the Federal Government to conduct a fresh investigation into the Halliburton scandal where huge sums have been traced to the former President’s political cronies; the Ajaokuta Steel Company debacle, and the Abacha loot recovered from the Abacha family during the Obasanjo administration and “relooted”.
Also worthy of being probed, according the group is the administration reckless and irresponsible sale of Nigeria’s strategic oil interests to cronies.
The group said successive administration’s giveaways of the nation’s oil wells have reduced Nigeria to little more than a tax collecting nation with no regard for investment in His administration’s giveaway of these oil blocks reduced Nigeria to little more than a tax collecting nation with no regard for investment in the state-owned oil company, NNPC and its many subsidiaries.
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