It is no longer news that JPMorgan Chase won a landmark battle at a London High Court against Nigeria, which had sought $1.7 billion in damages over the United States bank’s role in the controversial 2011 OPL 245 oil field deal which the Federal Government insisted was fraught with fraud.
While JPMorgan has been clashing the cymbals, celebrating its victory, saying the judgment reflected its commitment to acting with high professional standards everywhere it operates, Nigeria has been seething with anger, saying it was disappointed, and has vowed to review the judgment carefully before considering its next line of action.
The third leg of the tripod, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, who was accused of complicity in the alleged fraud against Nigeria, has been walking on air, jubilating that Tuesday’s judgment by the London High Court had absolved him from any wrongdoing.
The former Minister conveyed his happiness at the judgment in a press statement he issued Wednesday in Abuja, saying that “it is very gratifying that foreign courts have declared over and over again that there were no fraudulent or corrupt practices involved in the OPL 245 Settlement Resolution.”
Here is the full text of Adoke’s press statement:
PRESS STATEMENT
The courts have vindicated me on OPL 245 yet again
I received with delight the news of the 137-page judgment of the Commercial Court
of England and Wales in Case No CL-2017-000730 between the Federal Government
of Nigeria and JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. delivered on June 14, 2022, declaring
yet again that there is no evidence of fraud in the OPL 245 transaction. Although I
was not expecting a contrary judgment knowing well that I did no wrong and I
served Nigeria with all honesty and every sense of duty and patriotism, it is very
gratifying that foreign courts have declared over and over again that there were no
fraudulent or corrupt practices involved in the OPL 245 Settlement Resolution.
Although I was not a party in the suit, the Federal Government of Nigeria, through
the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, caused all manner of false
depositions to be made against me to paint the transaction with the tar of corruption
to justify the spurious criminal proceedings instituted against me in Nigeria. I am
particularly pleased with the outcome of the suit because if it were to be Nigerian
courts, I would have been accused of buying justice by my traducers, who are hell-
bent on tarnishing my name and destroying me for political reasons.
It is important to recall that OPL 245 was awarded to Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd in 1998
by the military government of Gen Sani Abacha. It was revoked by the
administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001, following which Malabu Oil
& Gas Ltd went to court to challenge the action. In 2006, the administration of
President Obasanjo opted for an Out-of-Court Settlement and returned OPL 245 to
Malabu 100 per cent. This was the state of affairs when I was appointed Attorney-
General and Minister of Justice by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2010.
President Jonathan asked me, as the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, to give him
legal advice on the validity and enforceability of the Out-of-Court Settlement entered
by the Obasanjo Administration. After reviewing all the documents related to the oil
block, I advised him that the Settlement Agreement dated 30th November 2006 had
already been reduced into a subsisting Consent Judgment of the Federal High Court,
Abuja. My involvement in the entire OPL 245 saga was carrying out the lawful
directives/approvals of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, to the effect that
the Settlement Agreement was implemented.
However, when President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office in 2015, some
influential figures in his government deceived him into believing that Nigeria could
get back the $1.1 billion that Shell/ENI paid to Malabu for OPL 245. They thought
that by impugning the transaction and painting me with the tar of corruption, they
would have a great chance in court. As part of the scheme, they elicited the
assistance of some so-called activists and anti-corruption crusaders at home and
abroad to scandalise my name by forging all kinds of documents to be used against
me in local and foreign jurisdictions where the OPL 245 transaction was undergoing
judicial scrutiny.
But, as I have constantly reiterated, every action taken by me concerning the
resolution of the controversies around OPL 245 and the eventual transfer of the oil
block from Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd to Shell and ENI was done with the requisite
Presidential Directives/Approvals and the best intentions for Nigeria. This much was
acknowledged in the 2018 Judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja Coram B.N.
Nyako, J, where the court stated that I could not be held personally liable for
carrying out the lawful directives/approvals of the President of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria. I did not demand or receive any form of bribe or gratification from the
Parties to the OPL 245 Settlement Agreement. Yet, the Federal Government of
Nigeria has outrightly ignored the subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court,
Abuja and proceeded to file spurious criminal charges against me ostensibly to
sustain their claim against JP Morgan Chase Bank with the hope of reaping from an
undeserved windfall.
God is so good that in March 2021, an Italian court dismissed all corruption charges
in the OPL 245 deal, discharging and acquitting all the defendants. Although I was
not on trial, my name was frequently mentioned, but I came out unscathed. The
court findings exonerated me of any blame or corrupt act. Not satisfied, the current
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami,
engaged lawyers to make all kinds of mindless and libellous allegations against me in
Commercial Court in the UK in an attempt to make JP Morgan refund the $1.1bn
paid to Malabu, along with supposed interests totalling $1.7bn. The UK court has
now dismissed the allegations of fraud. My name is cleared yet again.
It is also worthy of note that the US Department of Justice (DoJ) investigated the
OPL 245 deal and brought it to a close in October 2019 without any charges. Also, in
April 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it could not prove
any allegations of fraud or corruption and decided to close the investigation into the
transaction. It is gratifying that those respected authorities in the US, the UK and
Italy have all scrutinised the OPL 245 deal extensively and exhaustively without a
single conviction whatsoever.
I have been unjustly defamed locally and internationally, and my livelihood has been
taken from me; however, I am grateful to friends, colleagues and well-wishers who
have stood by me throughout this challenging and depressing period. Now that it is
clear to all discerning minds that no fraud was perpetrated in the OPL 245
Resolution Agreement, the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation should be
advised to refrain from wasting Nigeria’s hard-earned foreign exchange by way of
legal fees on local and foreign counsel in a bid to prove the existence of a fraud that
never was.
Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, CFR
Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice
June 14, 2022