Former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday, said shortly after his tenure ended in 2015, the succeeding administration — led by President Muhammadu Buhari — targeted several key officers in his government.
Jonathan remarked in Abuja, during the public presentation of a memoir titled “OPL 245: Inside Story of the $1.3bn Nigerian Oil Block,” authored by former Attorney-General of the Federation, Bello Adoke.
He was represented at the event by a former Senate President, Pius Anyim.
The OPL-245 case, also known as the Malabu Oil deal scandal, centres on the acquisition of Oil Prospecting Licence 245 — an oil block in Nigeria — by Shell and Eni in 2011 for $1.3bn.
The controversy stems from allegations that a significant portion of the payment, specifically $1.1bn, was channelled through intermediaries as bribes to Nigerian officials and politicians.
OPL 245 was initially awarded to Malabu Oil and Gas in 1998 by the Gen Sani Abacha administration.
However, the block became the subject of global corruption investigations, criminal prosecutions, and civil lawsuits after Malabu sold its entire stake to Shell and Eni in 2011.
Adoke, who was initially accused of wrongdoing by the Buhari administration, was eventually discharged and acquitted both in Nigeria and abroad.
In his address, Jonathan recalled how Adoke was hunted globally over the OPL-245 matter.
Speaking further, he said Adoke’s memoir upholds the truth.
“Shortly after my tenure ended in 2015, the succeeding government launched what many saw as a manhunt against key officers of my administration.
“The author of this memoir, Mr Bello Adoke, was the Attorney-General of the Federation at that time. He was hunted across the globe,” Jonathan said.
He continued: “But today, he is alive, he is healthy, and he is here to tell his story. Let me, therefore, use this occasion to congratulate Mr Bello Adoke, my friend and brother, for his doggedness, and to say that I am pleased to join you in celebrating this victory. I urge all of us to remain conscious of the fact that power belongs to God.”
Jonathan added that the best anyone entrusted with public office can do is commit to the assignment and use the opportunity to uphold truth, justice, and fairness.
“I must state, as always, that it is widely acknowledged among all civilisations that any society or organisation that does not promote justice and fairness will neither have peace nor make progress,” he said.
He further noted that the essence of Adoke documenting his memoir was not only to set the record straight but to contribute to the cause of truth and justice, which he described as the foremost pillars of nation-building. (Punch)
