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Leaked emails between Govt. officials, Oil companies allow Nigeria to recover US$1.1Billion for oil block deal
When transparency advocates and regulators of a country want to recover the nation’s wealth, lost through acts of grand corruption, they often call for an audit to be conducted.
Former Nigerian Oil Minister, Dan Etete
But in one case in Nigeria, this traditional method of pursuing financial recovery was not used. Instead, the pursuit of emails between high ranking government officials and oil companies is what led to billions of dollars being recovered.
In 2011, Nigeria’s government sold an oil block called OPL 245 to two of the world’s biggest oil companies, Shell and Italian Oil Company, Eni, for $1.3B.
While $210M made its way into the national purse, the other $1.1B was wired to a special account belonging to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company controlled by former Nigerian Oil Minister and convicted money launderer, Dan Etete.
Instead of an audit, a leaked internal email that was copied to the former Chief Executive Officer of Shell, Peter Voser, said that the former Energy Minister knew that the money was his for the taking.
Shell’s CEO thought that at 70-years-old, $1.1 billion would be irresistible to Etete and if he “turned his nose up” at it, then he truly was a certifiable man. Etete who took his country’s money, spent it on luxurious private jets, armoured cars and shotguns.
This newspaper understands that the leaked emails sparked a wave of investigations in 2015 which saw Shell in the early stages vehemently denying any corruption, while noting that it only paid the money directly to the Nigerian government to secure exploration rights.
But in 2017, Shell subsequently admitted that it was aware that part of the money from the oil block deal would go to Dan Etete. The amount allegedly meted out as bribes amounts to more than the entire 2018 healthcare budget of Nigeria.
As for JP Morgan, the bank which held the special account for the former Petroleum Minister, the government of Nigeria made the decision to pursue a lawsuit, saying that the wired funds should have set off alarm bells.
In light of the foregoing case, several local transparency advocates have said that it would be in Guyana’s interest for Ministers and other government officials handling Guyana’s oil business to make their email correspondence with oil companies, public.
Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, is on record as stating that he is supportive of this initiative.
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