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Italy Nominates Eni Official Accused In Malabu Oil Scandal As Chief Executive Officer

The series of shady transactions, which has become known as the Malabu Oil scandal, saw the government of former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, facilitate the sale of the oil block to a consortium of Shell and Eni.

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The Italian Government has appointed Claudio Discalzi, one of the officials standing trial in Milan over the sale of Oil Prospecting License (OPL 245) in 2011, as Chief Executive Officer of Eni.

The series of shady transactions, which has become known as the Malabu Oil scandal, saw the government of former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, facilitate the sale of the oil block to a consortium of Shell and Eni.

The block had been allegedly obtained by Dan Etete when he was Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum in 1998.

Jonathan’s administration sold it in 2011 after 13 years of contract breaches and court rulings.

Prosecutors in Milan, Italy, say that the $1.1bn fee paid by Eni and Shell for the OPL 245 licence was used as kickbacks for Etete and was “intended for payment to President Jonathan, members of the government, and other Nigerian public officials”.

At list four Shell and three Eni officials including Discalzi are standing trial over the dealings.

Speaking on the decision of the Italian Government to ignore Discalzi’s ongoing trial to name him CEO of Eni, Olanrewaju Suraju, head of HEDA Resource Centre said, “With such charges against him, someone in the position of Descalzi would not be confirmed as CEO to guide a strategic national company in Nigeria.

“It is disappointing that so far international investors have raised few objections publicly. They face being complicit in this appointment.”

The OPL 245 sale is under investigation in the Netherlands while Nigerian authorities have filed charges against Eni and a Shell subsidiary as well as former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke.

 

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