By Mariyah Adamu, Adamu
Former Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammed Adoke (SAN), will present his most awaited and compelling book on one of Nigeria’s most contentious oil deals to Nigerians from all walks of life, today.
The revealing and incisive book titled: “OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3bn Oil Block,” will be unveiled at Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja under the Chairmanship of former President Goodluck Jonathan, while Vice President Kashim Shettima is the Special Guest of Honour at the event.
Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde is the Chief Book Presenter, while a lawyer, columnist/ journalist, Dr Rueben Abati, will be the Book Reviewer.
It would be recalled that OPL 245 Resolution Agreements between
the Nigerian government, Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd, Shell Plc and Eni of Italy over the controversial oil bloc has scaled every judicial and administrative scrutiny in the United States of America, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Italy and Nigeria.
For over eight years, Adoke who, in 2011, helped resolve the 10-year-old dispute over the enormously rich bloc, was hounded by the Nigerian government.
His barely disguised offense was his failure to help the powerful family of the late Nigerian dictator, General Sani Abacha — an old-time ally of former President Muhammadu Buhari — get a cut from the sale of the oil bloc for $1.1 billion.
Lawyers hoping to receive commissions in excess of $300 million worked with Nigerian government officials to criminalise the deal globally, but failed spectacularly.
The book also exposes the dirty intrigue, Machiavellian exploits, unbridled politics, crass opportunism and vile vendetta around the world-famous oil bloc.
In daring details, OPL 245: The inside story of the $1.3bn Nigerian oil block’, tells the uncensored story of the billion-dollar deal between Shell Plc, Eni S.P.A and Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd of Nigeria that went awry.
The deal attracted global attention over allegations of fraud and bribery and was investigated by American, British, Dutch and Italian authorities.
But as the world watched what was touted by UK-based campaigners as “the biggest corporate scandal trial in history”, every piece started falling apart, with an Italian court concluding that there was no fraud. A UK court ruled likewise in a civil case. This is a story of dirty intrigue, high-wire politics, vendetta and Machiavellian tactics.
Adoke was educated at Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria, Robert Kennedy University, Switzerland, University of Nottingham and the University of Leiden. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, England. He was a member of the prestigious International Law Commission from 2011 to 2017.
