Business
MALABU OIL SCANDAL: Nigeria sues Shell, Eni
The federal government has filed a $1.1 billion suit against Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Eni and other companies over the much-publicised 2011 Malabu oil deal,arguing that it was tainted with corruption.
According to a Reuters report, the suit which was filed on Wednesday in London, said the money paid by the companies was diverted to bribes and kickbacks.
The oil field is already the subject of an ongoing trial in Milan, where prosecutors claim that bribes totalling $1.1 billion were paid.
“It is alleged that purchase monies purportedly paid to the Federal Republic of Nigeria were in fact immediately paid through to a company controlled by Dan Etete, formerly the Nigerian minister of petroleum,and used for, amongst other things, bribes and kickbacks,” a statement released by the federal government on Thursday read.
Read also: OPEC says crude oil demand may reduce in 2019
“Accordingly, it is alleged that Shell and Eni engaged in bribery and unlawful conspiracy to harm the Federal Republic of Nigeria and that they dishonestly assisted corrupt Nigerian government officials.”
According to the filing papers, the federal said JP Morgan acted with gross negligence when it allowed funds paid for the oil field’s license be transferred to a company controlled by Dan Etete, a former minister of petroleum resources.
“If the defendant acted with reasonable care and skill and/or conducted reasonable due diligence it would or should have known or at least suspected … that it was being asked to transfer funds to third parties who were seeking to misappropriate the funds from the claimant and/or that there was a significant risk that this was the case.”
The ongoing trial in Milan has already found two middlemen guilty for their “complicity in a bribery scandal”.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...