Former President Goodluck Jonathan may appear before the ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives probing the $1.1 billion Malabu Oil scandal to explain his role.
The committee in its report said Dr. Goodluck Jonathan could not have been unaware of the alleged corruption, malpractices, and breach of due process in the award of OPL 245 while he was president.
The report on the Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245, which comprises a large area of 1,958 square kilometers, including two deepwater fields and reckoned to hold an estimated 9.2 billion barrels of crude oil, followed by three months of continuous investigation.
Chairman of the probe committee, Hon Rasak Atunwa, stated that his committee has recommended that the former president be given an opportunity to explain his role in the approval of the April 2011 Agreement which acted as a catalyst for the supposed “resolution” on which the $1.1 billion was paid.
The committee stated that it was important for Goodluck Jonathan to give his position on whether or not he approved the payment as claimed by some of the principal actors in the scandal who have also claimed that the ex-president received a part of the payout.
Meanwhile, the committee has recommended the prosecution of former minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke for her role in opening an escrow account through which the illegal payments were made.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke allegedly acted in collusion with former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Muhammed Adoke who has also been recommended for prosecution, according to The Nation.
The committee also urged anti-graft agencies to arrest and prosecute Mr. Abubakar Alleel, who was said to have acted as a conduit through which the money was disbursed; SHELL/ ENI/NAE for their role in the ‘fraud’ particularly as they were already facing investigations on the issue abroad; and Mr Olusegun Aganga, former Trade Investment Minister.
It would, however, be noted that the EFCC has already filed charges against former Minister of Petroleum, Chief Dan Etete, Adoke and others with respect to the Malabu oil scandal.
Meanwhile, former President Jonathan has described his indictment as the handiwork of persons after his international reputation and seeking his downfall.
A portion of a statement by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze on Tuesday in reaction to the latest allegation that Jonathan took the sum of $200m from the Malabu deal, obtained by Punch, read: “It is one more in the series of fake news sponsored by those threatened by Dr. Jonathan’s continuously rising profile in the international community.
“Commonsense should have shown the purveyors of this slander that the Malabu oil deal far predated the Jonathan regime and it would only make sense for him to be bribed if he had a time machine to go back in time to when the deal was struck.”