The transfer of over $800 million to accounts controlled by Dan Etete from a Nigerian government account was fraudulent and in contravention of Nigerian laws, the federal government told a UK High Court.
The money was part of the $1.1 billion paid by Shell and ENI for OPL 245, considered one of Nigeria’s richest oil blocks. Although the government sought to transfer the total sum to Mr. Etete’s accounts, suits filed by middlemen seeking payments for services allegedly rendered during negotiation meant the government could only transfer $801 million of the money.
About $110.5 million was transferred to a Swiss account after one of the middlemen, Emeka Obi, won his case against Malabu while $85 million remained stuck in the UK following a court ruling.
It was in a bid to retrieve the $85 million that the Nigerian government filed its suit at the High Court of Justice, Admiralty and Commercial Court in the UK in October 2016.
Nigeria’s former attorney general, Mohammed Adoke, who authorised the transfer in 2011 following a controversial agreement with Malabu and another with Shell and ENI, has repeatedly maintained that he acted in the best interest of the federal government on the matter.
However, in a notice filed at the British Court, the Nigerian government under President Muhammadu Buhari argued that the transfer of the funds was in contravention of Nigerian laws.
“Those funds should have been paid into the Consolidated Fund of the Government of Nigeria, following the grant of an oil exploration license to a foreign oil consortium,” the government argued according to court documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES.
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