igeria is now run by a mafia straight from Aso Rock. Like any other mafia not much is known about what is going on in the nation and their operations are carried behind closed doors. Every action is shrouded in secrecy, dirt, greed, evil, rackets, criminal actions and corruption. The syndicate strongly feel they have the right to share oil blocks, sell off oil to all kinds of shady groups and pocket the funds. The Aso Rock Mafia is redefining corruption in Nigeria. They are anti justice, fairness, and transparency, and they are a mafia family whose membership is dominated by Bayelsans. A few people who are not from Bayelsa have been accepted and made family members. Like every other mafia group, the Aso Rock Mafia is a criminal syndicate of racketeers with the power and cover of state authority.

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The Aso Rock Mafia did not want you and I to know they successfully persuaded Shell and Agip to buy oil Block OPL 245 for the sum of $1.092, 040,000 (nearly $1.1 billion) and that they gave the money to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company owned by former Nigerian Petroleum minister during the regime of General Sani Abacha, Mr. Dan Etete (also known as Dauzia Loya), a man who was convicted for money-laundering in France in 2007. Etete's convicted was upheld by another French court in 2009. He was sentenced to three years in prison and fined the sum of 300, 000 euros. An arrest warrant was subsequently issued for Etete by the Paris Criminal Court, but Dan Etete (a/k/a Dauzia Loya) remains at large and he is holed up in the United Kingdom. No one would have known about this deal if the facts involved were not exposed in an unrelated case brought against Malabu Oil and gas by a company in New York, United States.

The expos� and facts of the case was made possible by Global Witness, an anti-corruption non-governmental organization in the United States. In an online document that exposed the deal and the involvement of top Nigerian government officials including the Justice Minister Mohammed Bello Adoke and the minister of state for finance Mr. Yerima Ngama, Global Witness provided the details on its website. With the title 'Shell's obscure payments kill its case for weak US and EU transparency laws - A briefing documents, 20th May 2012,' Global Witness provided 'The story' details:

The story
Court documents from a March 2012 New York arbitration case reveal that Nigerian subsidiaries of both Shell and ENI agreed to pay US$1.092 billion to the Nigerian Government for oil block OPL 245 in the country.¹ At the same time, precisely the same amount was agreed to be paid by the Nigerian Government to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company widely reported as controlled by an Abacha-era minister and convicted money-launderer.

The documents from the court case² show that Shell and ENI subsidiaries agreed to pay US$1,092,040,000 to the Government of Nigeria to settle any existing claims surrounding the ownership of the long-disputed block OPL 245,³ although the documents suggest the ENI subsidiary, Nigeria Agip Exploration Ltd, may have made the payments to the Nigerian Government on behalf of both companies as the 'operator' of the block.

A second agreement, made in the same month, reveals that the Government of Nigeria pledged to pay 'Malabu' precisely the same amount - US$1,092,040,000 - as compensation for relinquishing any claim to the block.⁴

The court documents also suggest that Shell's subsidiary agreed to pay a signature bonus of approximately US$208 million to the Government of Nigeria.⁵ The final judgement of the case states that, "�it does appear that the FGN [the Federal Government of Nigeria] was the proverbial "straw-man," holding $1.1 billion for ultimate payment to Malabu."⁶

Shell and ENI have previously declined to disclose details of their payments for OPL 245.⁷

Nigerian citizens will be highly interested in the terms of the OPL 245 deal as these were previously undisclosed in any detail by the companies. It is of particular interest that Malabu was promised precisely the same amount that ENI and Shell jointly agreed to pay the government.⁸ Malabu Oil and Gas, which formerly claimed to own the licence, is widely reported to be controlled by controversial Abacha-era oil minister Dan Etete, who has a 2007 conviction for money-laundering in France, that was upheld in 2009.⁹

The references relating to the passage above are provided at the end of this article.

I have provided the references because they shed a lot of light on the deal and the issues involved. The government of Goodluck (Goodluck?) Jonathan lacks transparency and reveals/discloses nothing to the Nigerian people. It is criminal for a government to continue to manage the affairs of a product that accounts for nearly 85% of the nation's income in secret and without transparency. The final judgement of the case pointed out that "� it does appear that the FGN [the Federal Government of Nigeria] was the proverbial "straw-man," holding $1.1 billion for ultimate payment to Malabu." A straw-man is a person set up to serve as a cover/front for a usually questionable transaction or deal, in this case the sale of oil block OPL 245. This is surely a questionable transaction considering the fact that OPL 245 was allocated to Malabu by Malabu in 1998 during the Sani Abacha regime when Etete/Loya was petroleum minister. OPL 245, it was reported "gives exploration rights over an area off the coast of Nigeria that is thought to be rich in oil and its ownership has been disputed by Shell and Malabu for nearly a decade." The Obasanjo administration withdrew the license because it claimed (and rightly so) that Malabu won the block under questionable conditions and the block was awarded to Shell in 2002. The same oil block was later re-awarded to Malabu in 2006 after a legal battle, but Shell did not give up the oil block and it initiated arbitration in Washington, D.C. Strangely Shell chose to settle some legal and contractual issues with the Jonathan administration and OPL 245 was bought back by Shell and Agip for nearly $1.1 billion from the Nigerian government. But rather than keep the money for national development the government paid the full amount into the account of Malabu Oil & Gas. Malabu was not even part of the deal and contractual settlement with Shell. The whole thing is messy and crooked, particularly on the side of Goodluck Jonathan, the straw-man who approved the money-laundering scheme that defrauded Nigeria of the sum of $1.1 billion in oil income.

Mr. Dan Etete (also known as Dauzia Loya) is a professional middleman and money-launderer. He fronts for top military men and people in government. He is fronting for some people in Abuja and the $1.1 billion is one big pie that is being laundered on behalf of his masters. There are grave concerns about the Jonathan administration and the magnitude of corruption and shady deals it is involved in, particularly in the oil and gas sector of the Nigerian economy. The lack of transparency which allows corruption to swell is the root of the problem and the reason why millions of Nigerians are very poor even when the nation earns billions on dollars in oil revenue, most of which is stolen and/or not reported. The ASo Rock Mafia and its cronies/fronts are cleaning the nation and diverting the oil resources of Nigeria into private pockets and bank accounts overseas. When will NNPC and the petroleum ministry provide the people a list of all oil blocks currently active, the ownership of these oils blocks, amount paid to the government for every oil block, the income generated by each oil block, and the nation's accrued share of the income? That request and transparent information will never be provided for as long as Jonathan is in charge. The looters forget that they may never live to enjoy their loot. Confusion will set in, terminal diseases will afflict them, sudden death will over take them, soldiers will visit them when they least expect and rout them. God is not mocked and all the pretence about being born-again Christians is fooling no one, rather it drags down the name of the Lord - and the Lord do not take kindly to thieves dragging His name in the mud. His judgement will come when they least expect.

The Bayelsa looting blueprint is now being implemented by the Aso Rock Mafia. They are reckless in their operation and they are moving so rapidly and quickly in their looting spree. They are determined to implement the looting blueprint made popular by Diepreye Alamieyeseigha to the letter and to gain huge wealth. Only thieves are welcome in the mafia, please go home if you are not a thief and are not ready to front for the thieves. This scandal must be investigated by the national Assembly. The petroleum minister Alison-Madueke and the managing director of NNPC should be removed from their offices now to allow for full investigation. The EFCC should not be allowed to investigate this case as it is in the firm control of Jonathan, who is aware of every action and illegality being committed and carried out at the petroleum ministry and the NNPC. This is the most dishonest and dishonourable president ever. He wallows in self-deceit and pretends like someone who does not know what is going on or who is ignorant of activities and events happening in the petroleum ministry. It is obvious that looting is in the DNA of the people at Aso Rock and that is the only business they are interested in. Corruption is riding high in Nigeria under Jonathan like never before. The crookedness begins right from the top and the Aso Rock Mafia only subscribe to a ten commandments - that of the Cosa Nostra Mafia.

The references:

1. The information comes from contracts disclosed in a New York arbitration case, the judgement from which was made in March 2012. A consulting firm initiated a claim as they acted as sellers for the block on Malabu's behalf, but claim not to have been paid. The case was reported on by African Energy Intelligence Where the millions flew, Africa Energy Intelligence, 29th February 2012. See Matter of International Legal Consulting Ltd.v Malabu Oil &Gas Ltd., Sup Ct, New York County, March 15, 2012, https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=IlMhqMX_PLUS_/fJrxxubSXRkww==&system=prod

2. Shell and Agip were not parties to the New York arbitration case, which centred on claims by a consulting form hired by Malabu to help sell the latter's rights in OPL 245 and did not receive a promised fee for its services. Global Witness takes no view on this case.

3. OPL 245 gives exploration rights over an area off the coast of Nigeria that is thought to be rich in oil and its ownership has been disputed by Shell and Malabu for nearly a decade. According to Africa Energy Intelligence, the OPL 245 licence was first awarded to Malabu by the government in 1998 when its reported owner, Dan Etete, was Nigeria's oil minister. Shell was brought in as a technical partner in 2001. The license was then rescinded from Malabu by President Obasanjo's administration on the grounds that Malabu had won the block under questionable conditions, afterwhich the block was awarded to Shell in 2002. The Abuja government later re-awarded the block to Malabu in 2006 after a p[ro-longed legal battle . Shell then began arbitration proceedings in Washington for the loss of the licence. The recent New York court case reveals the negotiated settlement between the parties to resolve the disputed ownership of the block.

4. See Exhibit 2, Block 245 Malabu Resolution Agreement in Matter of International Legal Consulting Ltd.v Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd., Sup Ct, New York County, March 15, 2012, https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=JtR9Y6OfsfY/6GA_PLUS_Izeu6A==&system=prod

5. See Exhibit 1, Block 245 Resolution Agreement and Exhibit 2 Block 245 Malabu Resolution Agreement in Matter of International Legal Consulting Ltd.v Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd., Sup Ct, New York County, March 15, 2012, available at https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=BmxYax/eWlCqEHTBk1JT6A==&system=prod (Exhibit 1) and https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=JtR9Y6OfsfY/6GA_PLUS_Izeu6A==&system=prod (Exhibit 2)

6. Although this issue was not the subject of the ruling, the comment appearing in the judgement is noteworthy. See Matter of International Legal Consulting Ltd.v Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd., Sup Ct, New York County, March 15, 2012, page 10 , https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=IlMhqMX_PLUS_/fJrxxubSXRkww==&system=prod

7. Letter from Marc den Hartog, Royal Dutch Shell plc VP Commerical Sub-Saharan Africa to Global Witness, 27 September 2011 (Shell did not disclose the payment for OPL 245 after Global Witness asked them to provide this information); Nor do Shell's nor ENI's Annual Reports specifically disclose the payments made for the purchase of OPL 245 in 2011, See Royal Dutch Shell 2012 Annual Report, available at http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1306965/000095012312004791/u11387e20vf.htm ("The dispute regarding the ownership of the license and the rights in the OPL 245 PSC was resolved during 2011, with Shell being awarded a 50% equity interest") and ENI Spa 2012 Annual Report ("In 2011, Eni optimized its production asset portfolio�the awarding from the Nigerian Government a 50% interest in Block OPL 245"), available at http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1002242/000131143512000005/sj0412en20f2011.htm. Global Witness also notes that in Shell's 2011 Revenue transparency document (wwwstatic. shell.com/static/environment_society/downloads/society/shell_cfo_message_revenue_transparency_25042012.pdf) Shell states it paid US$1.301bn dollars in royalty payments in Nigeria, as well as listing other aggregated payments to governments. It is impossible however for citizens to track what these payments are for and for which specific projects they relate to.

8. See Matter of International Legal Consulting Ltd.v Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd., Sup Ct, New York County, March 15, 2012, page 2, https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=IlMhqMX_PLUS_/fJrxxubSXRkww==&system=prod

9. Vanguard: Nigeria: Money Laundering - French Court Hands Dan Etete 3-Yr Jail Term, November 7, 2007, available at http://allafrica.com/stories/200711080184.html; Agence France Presse: Paris court upholds Nigerian minister laundering conviction, March 18, 2009.

Taken from: http://www.globalwitness.org/sites/default/files/Shell%E2%80%99s%20obscure%20payments%20kill%20its%20case%20for%20weak%20US%20and%20EU%20transparency%20laws%2C%20GW%20briefing.pdf