Muhammadu Buhari, the president of Nigeria, has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to ensure that those involved in the Malabu OPL 245 scam are made to face prosecution.
Named in the saga are Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, attorney-general of the Federation under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, and Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former Minister of Petroleum Resources.
Goodluck Jonathan, the immediate past president of Nigeria, was also named in the scam by investigators in Italy and the UK.
The President’s directive is in sharp disagreement with Abubakar Malami, the attorney general of the Federation, who had written to the President asking that those involved in the scam be freed from prosecution.
Malami, among other reasons, had based his position on a claim that the Official Secrets Act protects the affected officials from being prosecuted for actions taken while in office.
But in strongly worded counter-memo to the President, Ibrahim Magu, the acting EFCC chairman, debunked Malami’s position. On January 18 , President Buhari sent a memo to the EFCC through the office of the Chief of Staff directing the agency to continue working to get those involved in the scam prosecuted.
An earlier memo sent to President Buhari by the EFCC updated him on the progress being made in many jurisdictions to ensure that oil companies involved in the scam are punished.
According to a SaharaReporters publication on Monday, February 20, 2018, the memo cited the indictment of officials of Royal Dutch Shell and ENI in Italy, as well as ongoing litigations in the UK, which have already resulted in the repatriation of some of the funds, laundered through the scam to Nigeria.
The memo to the EFCC represents a big blow to Mr. Malami’s attempts at colluding with perpetrators of the scam.
