Senior Royal Dutch Shell executives have been charged in
Italy for their role in an alleged vast “bribery scheme” that deprived Nigeria
of over a billion dollars from the sale of a prolific oil block – Oil
Prospecting Lease (OPL) 245 – by Malabu Oil and Gas Limited to Shell and
Italian oil giant, Eni, in 2011, the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed
last Friday to Global Witness, a non-governmental organisation fighting
corruption.
Officials facing trial include Malcolm Brinded, the second
most powerful person in the company when the deal was struck. Others charged
are Peter Robinson, former vice-president for Shell’s sub-Saharan Africa
operations and Guy Colegate and John Copleston, former Shell employees and
ex-MI6 agents as well as the company itself, also facing bribery charges
alongside the individuals.
News of the charges broke Monday just as human rights lawyer
and activists, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), dragged President Muhammadu Buhari
before the Federal High Court in Abuja, asking the court to restrain him from
continuing to hold the office of Minister of Petroleum Resources while in
office as President of Nigeria.
Commenting on the charges against the Shell officials,
Olanrewaju Suraju of Human and Environmental Development Agenda of Nigeria,
said: “These charges are a clear signal that it is no longer business as usual
for oil companies in Nigeria. It’s now time for the Dutch and British
authorities to follow Italy’s lead and hold their biggest company to account.”
In 2011, Shell and Eni paid $1.1 billion for OPL 245, an oil
block located in deep waters offshore Nigeria, allegedly knowing that the money
would go to Malabu Oil and Gas owned by a former Minister of Petroleum
Resources, Dan Etete, who had been convicted for money laundering in France.
Etete was accused of awarding himself the block while in
office under former military head of state, Gen. Sani Abacha.
The historic decision follows a dramatic U-turn in which it
admitted that it knew its billion dollar payment would go to Etete, in exchange
for OPL 245.
“This could be the biggest corporate bribery trial in
history, and a watershed moment for the oil industry. The top brass of the UK’s
largest company is in the dock after it finally admitted dealing with a
convicted money launderer.
“There can be no clearer sign that wholesale change is
needed. Shell must first apologise to the Nigerian people, then take clear
steps to reassure investors and the broader public that this won’t happen
again,” said Barnaby Pace of Global Witness.
In April, Global Witness and Finance Uncovered revealed that
Shell executives knew that the $1.1 billion they paid for OPL 245 would go to
Etete and was likely to be used in a vast bribery scheme.
For years, Shell had claimed that it only paid the Nigerian
Government. But after the Global Witness investigations, Shell shifted its
position and acknowledged it had dealt with Etete through his front company,
Malabu.
In December, the Milan Public Prosecutor alleged that $520
million from the deal was converted into cash and intended to be paid to former
President Goodluck Jonathan, members of the government and other Nigerian
government officials.
Now, Italian authorities have brought bribery charges
against Malcolm Brinded, then Head of Upstream, alongside three others.
According to the Shell Foundation, Brinded has stepped down
from his role as Chairman of the Board of Trustees due to the legal action in
Italy.
Brinded remains a trustee of the foundation as well as
retained positions as Chair of Engineering UK and President of the Energy
Institute.
In September 2017, BHP Billiton announced that Malcolm
Brinded would not return to the BHP Billiton board due to judicial inquiries
over the OPL 245 deal.
In 2002, Brinded was awarded the CBE for services to the
U.K. oil and gas industry. These individual charges are in addition to existing
charges brought against Shell, Eni, the Italian company’s CEO, former CEO and
Chief Operations Officer, middlemen and several Nigerian officials.
“Shell’s current CEO, Ben van Beurden has described the
emails we leaked as ‘pub talk’, but most pub chats don’t end up in criminal
proceedings.
“Mr. van Beurden has had four years as CEO to address a
scandal that now threatens to engulf his company but has done next to nothing.
He should draw a line under the case by admitting the company’s guilt, removing
Mr. Brinded from his position, and setting out his plan for overhauling the
company’s anti-bribery efforts for the future,” said Pace.
“These charges are a clear signal that it is no longer
business as usual for oil companies in Nigeria. It’s now time for the Dutch and
British authorities to follow Italy’s lead and hold their biggest company to
account,” added Suraju.
OPL 245 holds significant discovered hydrocarbon reserves
and will increase Shell’s reserves by a third. Two oil and gas discoveries have
been made on the block.
Etan and Zabazaba were discovered in 2005 and 2006
respectively. Eni plans to develop the Etan and Zabazaba fields in phases with
subsea wells tied back to a leased floating production storage and offloading
(FPSO) vessel.
Agbakoba Heads to Court
Meanwhile, human rights lawyer and activists, Mr. Agbakoba
(SAN), Monday dragged President Buhari before the Federal High Court in Abuja,
asking the court to restrain him from continuing to hold the office of Minister
of Petroleum Resources while still in office as President of Nigeria.
Agbakoba’s lawsuit was instituted two weeks ago after a memo
written by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, to
the president came to light.
In the memo, which was leaked on social media, the minister
had accused the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, of keeping the NNPC board of
directors which Kachikwu chairs in the dark in the award of contracts to the
tune of $25 billion.
Among other issues, Kachikwu also alleged that the board was
not carried along in the recent appointment of senior NNPC executives.
In response to the memo, Baru dismissed the allegations on
the contract awards, saying due process was followed and the president granted
the approvals to the contracts, but he was silent on the appointments without
recourse to the board.
But in the suit filed pursuant to Order 3 Rule 1, 6 and 9 of
the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules and Sections q(1) and (2), 138 and
147(2) of the 1999 Constitution, Agbakoba asked the court to determine whether,
by virtue of Section 138 of the Constitution which disqualifies the president
from holding any other executive office or paid employment, he can
simultaneously serve as Minister of Petroleum?
He argued that on the basis of Section 138 of the 1999
Constitution disqualifying the president from taking any paid employment or
holding an executive office of Minister of Petroleum Resources, he cannot hold
office as Minister of Petroleum Resources.
In the case which has the Attorney General of Federation
(AGF) as a defendant, the senior advocate also contended that there was no time
Buhari’s appointment as Minister of Petroleum Resources was confirmed by the
Senate of the National Assembly as stipulated under Section 147(2) of the
Constitution.
The affidavit supporting his claim stated that the
determination of the questions in the claim was of vital national importance,
in view of the governance chaos at NNPC.
“By virtue of Section 138 of the 1999 Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 Constitution), which disqualifies the
President of Nigeria from holding any other executive office or paid
employment, can the Nigerian President simultaneously serve as a Minister of
Petroleum Resources, which is an executive office?
“By virtue of Section 147(2) of the 1999 Constitution, if
the President is not disqualified, can the President hold the office of
Minister of Petroleum Resources, without confirmation by the Senate of the
National Assembly?” he asked.
At the risk of being accused of not having locus standi,
Agbakoba stated that he is a taxpayer, voter and lawyer with over 40 years
experience in legal practice.
He equally stated that he is involved in advocacy for
democracy, rule of law and constitutionalism.
The human rights lawyer said he was the president of the
Civil Liberties Organisations (CLO), Convener of United Action for Democracy
and senior counsel for Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS) who was on many
occasions detained under Decree 2 for his advocacy for democracy,
constitutionalism and the rule of law in the country.
He wants the court to determine whether, by virtue of
Section 138 of the constitution, which disqualifies the president from holding
any other executive office or paid employment, he can simultaneously serve as
Minister of Petroleum?
He said he was greatly concerned about the recent management
crisis in NNPC, particularly the disagreements between Kachikwu and Baru, over
the administration of NNPC.
He stated that the governance crisis in NNPC could not have
occurred if the president was not also the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
The human rights lawyer stated that since NNPC provides up
to 90 per cent of the revenue accruing to Nigeria, he was worried that the
crisis in the company will greatly reduce Nigeria’s revenue generating capacity
and will affect revenue distributable to federal, states and local governments
in the country and this, according to him, will gravely affect development
nationwide and drastically impact on him and other Nigerians.
This was the second suit filed by Agbakoba in relation to
NNPC in recent weeks. He went to court a few weeks ago to ask for the
dissolution of the corporation’s board on the grounds that there is no
South-east representation on the board in compliance with the Constitution and
Federal Character Commission Act.
Fire Incident in Minister’s Home
In another incident, a part of the residence of Kachikwu
located within the highbrow Asokoro district of Abuja was on Sunday evening
burnt by a fire that was ignited by an electrical surge through two air
conditioners and a television set in his bedroom.
It was gathered that first responders and security personnel
who were around at the time of the incident were able to put out the fire.
Sources close to the minister said no casualty or huge
losses were recorded from the fire outbreak, but extensive damage was caused to
the minister’s room due to the fire.
Kachikwu was in Lagos when the incident occurred, but a
source said: “Yes, a part of the minister’s residence was burnt on Sunday. It
was as a result of an electrical fault in a part of the building, but he was
not at home when this happened, so no casualty whatsoever.
“Some mobile police officers and first responders were able
to put out the fire. But the most important thing was that it was not serious
because it only affected a part of the building.
“The presence of the police post close to the estate where
he lives was also instrumental.”
When THISDAY tried to visit Kachikwu’s residence, the
presence of armed mobile security officers along the road leading into the
estate where the minister’s house is located made it quite difficult to assess
the extent of the damage to the building.
However, upon hearing of the incident, the NNPC GMD was said
to have visited the minister’s home Monday to commiserate with him.
Upon hearing that Kachikwu was still in Lagos, Baru flew to
Nigeria’s commercial capital to see the minister at his Ikoyi residence.
But THISDAY gathered that when Baru arrived Kachikwu’s home
in a long motorcade at 6.02 p.m., Kachikwu was not at home.
It was learnt that on reaching Kachikwu’s residence, the
NNPC boss and his aides went inside the premises with a convoy of three
vehicles, while seven other vehicles in the motorcade waited outside.
Investigation, however, revealed that the NNPC boss and his
entourage met the minister’s absence and left at 6.07 p.m.
THIS DAY
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