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Friday, October 5, 2012
FG set to appeal ICJ judgement CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
a committee to look at the option of appealing the ICJ judgement ceding the oilrich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroun. Nigeria has till October 9 to appeal the ICJ ruling which was delivered on October 10, 2002. The decision to explore the option of appeal was reached at a closed-door meeting between the President, the leadership of the National Assembly and other stakeholders at the State House, Abuja. The meeting, which started on Wednesday night, ended early hours of yesterday. Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, told journalists after the meeting that the committee would consider how to take care of the displaced people of Bakassi. Imoke, who did not disclose the composition of the committee, said it would work within record time. He said that the President had shown great leadership quality by convening the meeting and standing firm on some of the decisions taken. The Senate President, David Mark, also said that the executive and the lawmakers were now on the same page on the Bakassi issue. He added that they would work together to achieve results. Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola, who was at the meeting, said that the Federal Government had shown “candid” concern about the issue. He commended the move by the government to dialogue and insistence on the rule of law and diplomacy to ensure that Nigeria secured justice and the people were not wrongly dealt with. Ajibola expressed optimism that the committee would handle the matter accordingly and in record time. Vice-President Namadi Sambo; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal; Akwa Ibom governor, Godswill Akpabio; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim and the Minister of Justice and Attorney-
General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, were at the meeting. The decision of the Federal Government to appeal the judgement was also contained in a letter to the House of Representatives by Adoke. The AGF sought the deferment of an investigative hearing by the House into an alleged fraudulent sale by the Federal Government of an oil block to oil companies to allow his office pursue an appeal of the judgement. “I most respectively write to request the postponement of the public hearing scheduled to take place from October 4-5 to another date to enable me to attend to the urgent review of the 2002 ICJ judgement in respect of the Cameroun/Nigeria boundary dispute,” he told the committee. Adoke was also invited to the ad hoc committee hearing being chaired by House Deputy Leader, Leo Ogor, to give a submission of his office’s role in the sale of the Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 for an oil bloc to Shell/Agip Consortium and Malabu Oil and Gas Limited for $1.092bn. The House deputy leader also confirmed the preparedness of the Federal Government to appeal the judgement. He said: “I can inform to you that Mr. President called a meeting in respect of this issue and I was privileged to be there where he directed the AGF to act immediately in line with the resolution of the House of Representatives. “The President told the AGF to prepare and file for a review within the window period. “Mr. President, in his wisdom, said ‘go ahead and make sure that anything worth doing is worth doing well.’ “President Jonathan said let’s give it a trial and see how we can find a solution to the issue of Bakassi because it has become a recurring decimal. “As a responsive and responsible parliament, we have refused to ratify the ICJ judgement in line with Section 12 of the constitution because we are not convinced that Bakassi should go.” Ogor added that because of the development, he had to reschedule the appear-
ance of the justice minister as requested in his letter. According to him: “It was on the basis of the request for a reschedule of appearance that I could not make further comment when the AGF wrote to the ad hoc committee that he would not be able to make it to the public hearing as a result of the President’s directive on the Bakassi issue because they were given a timeframe within which to look into the subject matter and find a solution to it. “This House is doing all it can to ensure that the issue of Bakassi is resolved once and for all. We believe that it is purely a constitutional issue and we have
taken an oath of allegiance to defend the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” The Senate had last week unanimously passed a resolution mandating the President to appeal the ICJ ruling on Bakassi because of the new facts that had emerged over the matter. The people of Bakassi have been agitating against the ceding of the oil-rich peninsula to the Republic of Cameroun through the Green Tree Agreement, which was signed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The judgement also rendered Cross River, a non-littoral state and has attracted
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harsh criticisms from Nigerians and the people of Bakassi. Some members of the area have even threatened to embark on self-rule. This has already been followed by the hoisting of the flag and coat of arms of the Bakassi people. Tension, anger and uncertainty have heightened in Cross River State, as political and cultural leaders engaged in critical talks on the matter. Hon. Nkoyo Toyo, who represents Calabar/Odukpani Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, said the main reason why the people of Cross River State were angry with
the judgement was that “what befell Bakassi was responsible for where we are today with regard to the 76 oil wells that were awarded to Akwa Ibom State.” Toyo, a lawyer, said that although she was not in court when the recent apex court’s judgement was delivered, she heard that the judges had relied on a letter written by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, stating that Cross River State was entitled to the 76 oil wells on account of the Federal Government’s ongoing negotiations with Cameroun to retain Western Bakassi. She said: “If there was an CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>
L-R: Executive Director, Corporate Banking, First Bank Plc, Mr. Kehinde Lawanson; President, Cocoa Association of Nigeria, Mr. Sayina Riman; Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako; Chairman, First Bank, Prince Ajibola Afonja and Chief of Party, World Cocoa Foundation, Amb. Sonai Ebai, during the First International Cocoa Conference in Ibadan, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN
Reps begin probe of $1.1bn Shell/Malabu oil deal TORDUE SALEM ABUJA
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he House of Representatives has initiated an enquiry into allegations that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources failed to remit the $1.092bn signature bonus realised from the sale of an oil block covered by Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 to Shell/ Agip Consortium and Malabu Oil and Gas Limited to the Federation Account. Signature bonuses are monies realised from the sale of OPL to oil companies. The funds realised from such sales by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation on behalf of the government are expected to be remitted to the Federation Account as stipulated in section 162 of the 1999 Constitution. Eyebrows had been raised in the oil industry
about the deal as the money collected from the Shell/Eni venture was reportedly paid into accounts controlled by Malabu Oil, which is owned by the Minister of Petroleum Resources during the Sani Abacha era, Chief Dan Etete and then shared among powerful individuals that facilitated the deal. Etete, who was convicted of money laundering in France in 2007, had had a running battle with the government after the oil block was seized by the Obasanjo regime. An international watchdog Global Witness had queried the deal in May asking why the Federal Government, acting as obligor, agreed that the sales proceeds be transferred to Malabu. Both Shell and ENI have denied paying any money to Malabu Oil and Gas in respect of the licence and suggest that their agreements
were only with the Nigerian Government, according to court documents filed in New York. The Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Bello Adoke, had however been quoted as stating that Shell and and ENI “agreed to pay Malabu, through the Federal Government acting as an obligor, the sum of US$1,092,040,000 in full and final settlement of any and all claims, interests or rights relating to or in connection with Block 245.” Reports have also claimed that the Nigerian government has instructed the release of almost 80 per cent of the funds paid for OPL245 (US$801,540,000) into accounts controlled by Malabu, and that this money was subsequently shared through a set of complex corporate structures to accounts owned by a number of Nigerian companies and individuals.
The deals were reportedly arranged by lawyers and consultants hired by Malabu. But the Ministry of Finance and its agencies – Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the Accountant-General of the Federation’s Office and the Ministry of Petroleum and its relevant agencies, which had been invited to clear the air on the allegation, did not turn up at a two-day investigative hearing that began yesterday with relevant documents to aid the panel with its enquiry. House Deputy Leader, Hon. Leo Okuweh Ogor, who is also the Chairman of the panel investigating the transaction between the Federal Government and the consortium, however said the ad hoc committee “would get to the root of the allegations.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>