The House of Representatives is calling for the revocation of Malabu Oil Block ( Oil Prospecting Licence 245) because Nigeria stands to lose $10b in the controversial deep water oil block.
The outcome of various studies from oil industry experts said the nation might lose between $4.5 billion and $10 billion based on lopsided Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) that excluded some key components of the licence like gas.
Leading the call for the revocation of the OPL 245 licence was Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes (EFCC), Kayode Oladele.
Oladele spoke at the anti-corruption situation room on public presentation of expert analysis of OPL 245 deal by Human and Environmental Agenda (HEDA) Resource Center in partnership with Global Witness, RE: Common and CornerHouse.
He said the non-implementation of the recommendation of the report of the 2014 House of Representatives’ investigation by the government led to the second investigation in 2016.
Oladele said the investigation uncovered too many shady deals facilitated with alleged payment of $1.1 billion to a former Petroleum Minister, Dan Etete, as well as other inconsistences in the PSA that did not favour the country.
He said the decision of the current House of Representatives to reopen the investigation was also reinforced by the “realisation that the $1.1 billion paid by Shell and Agip for OPL 245 was disguised as payment to the Federal Government.
The lawmaker said: “It is a common knowledge that the only entitlement of the Federal Government in the award of oil block is signature bonus, while the beneficiary of the award (in this case, Malabu) is entitled to the full value of the block ($1.1b) if it divests its stake.
“Other investigations conducted by other industry experts like Global witness, Cornerhouse and RE:Common) which further unearth useful facts pertaining to outstanding issues in the hideous oil prospecting contract projecting it at an estimated revenue loss of $6b to Nigeria have vindicated the parliamentarians that its position on the issue.
