Court acquits Malabu Oil, Aliyu Abubakar of OPL 245 deal charges
The court held that the EFCC failed to prove the OPL 245 related charges beyond reasonable doubt. The post Court acquits Malabu Oil, Aliyu Abubakar of OPL 245 deal charges appeared first on Premium Times Nigeria.
The OPL 245 saga centres on one of Nigeria's most valuable oil blocks, awarded to Malabu Oil and Gas in the 1990s and later the subject of a controversial 2011 deal in which Shell and Eni paid over $1 billion, funds Nigerian and international investigators alleged were partly funnelled to politically exposed persons and middlemen. The transaction has triggered a web of criminal and civil proceedings spanning Nigeria, Italy and the UK, with the EFCC long pursuing money-laundering and fraud charges against individuals and companies linked to the deal, including Malabu Oil and businessman Aliyu Abubakar.
Both Premium Times and Punch report that a Federal High Court in Abuja has discharged and acquitted Abubakar and Malabu Oil, with Premium Times noting the court found the EFCC failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt. Neither report details the specific reasoning behind the ruling, whether the EFCC intends to appeal, or how this verdict affects related proceedings against other defendants tied to the long-running OPL 245 case.