Former President
Goodluck Jonathan has denied reports that he received a bribe to
facilitate the controversial $1.3 billion Malabu oil deal saying that
the deal was done long before he became president.
The Nigerian media began on Monday to
report that Italian prosecutors alleged that Dr. Jonathan and former
petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke received kickbacks as part of
the deal which involved oil giants ENI and Shell.
Jonathan, in a statement issued by his
spokesman, Ikechukwu Eze on Tuesday, January 10, 2016 said that the
reports are untrue and that he has “not been accused, indicted or
charged for corruptly collecting any monies as kickbacks or bribes from
ENI by the Italian authorities or any other law enforcement body the
world over”.
“Our attention has been drawn to news
reports published mostly by online media which suggested through
innuendo, rather than factual evidence, that former President Goodluck
Jonathan received kickbacks in the $1.3bn OPL 245 oil block deal
involving oil giants ENI and Royal Dutch Shell,” the statement said.
“With regards to the publication, we
wish to make it clear that former President Jonathan was not accused,
indicted or charged for corruptly collecting any monies as kickbacks or
bribes from ENI by the Italian authorities or any other law enforcement
body the world over.
“In the first place, we have to
categorically state that the negotiations and transactions for the oil
block deal predate the Presidency of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan which
began on 6th May 2010 and ended on 29th May 2015.
“It may interest those promoting this
false narrative to know that all the documents relating to the
transactions, issues and decisions of the Federal Government on the
Malabo issue, during the Jonathan administration, are in the office of
the Attorney General of the Federation/Minister of Justice.
“As President of Nigeria, there is no
doubt that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan met with executives of all the oil
majors operating in Nigeria and urged them to, amongst other things,
support the growth of the Nigerian oil industry by ramping up their
investments and comply with the Local Content Act that he promoted and
signed into law.
“We however wish to state, for emphasis,
that at no time did the former President hold private meetings with
representatives of ENI to discuss pecuniary issues. All the meetings and
discussions former President Jonathan had with ENI, other IOCs and some
indigenous operators were conducted officially, and in the presence of
relevant Nigerian Government officials and were done in the best
interest of the country.
“We make bold to point out that the
former President never sent any Abubakar Aliyu, as the innuendoes in the
false report suggest, to ENI, the IOCs or any indigenous operator to
seek favour or collect any gratification on his behalf.
“We will like to point out for the
umpteenth time that whether in office or out of office, former President
Jonathan does not own any bank account, aircraft or real estate outside
Nigeria. Anyone with contrary information is challenged to publicly
publish same.
“As the President who signed the Freedom
of Information Act into law, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan lifted the veil on
governance and encouraged transparency knowing that evil breeds in
secrecy. It is the opinion of the former President that journalists and
media houses should take advantage of this law in their investigative
journalism, rather than rely on hearsay.
“We hope that these clarifications will help guide future reports which should be factual.”
Italian prosecutors alleged that $54 million was withdrawn by Abubakar Aliyu, who was described as an “agent” of Jonathan.
They also claimed that ENI chief
executive Claudio Descalzi and his predecessor Paolo Scaroni met
Jonathan “in person” to thrash out the deal, which also involved former
British intelligence agents working as advisors for Shell.
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