The Ijaw Union has called on the Federal Government to without delay probe former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s involvement in the alleged OPL 245 Malabu Oil and Gas deal scandal.
The call for the probe of Obasanjo is coming as the former president had during interactions with newsmen at a function in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia recently, claimed that the deal was not approved by him.
Obasanjo had during the interaction said, “What Etete did is the height of corruption. He appropriated the asset to himself illegally, illegitimately and immorally. Adoke and others should not drag me into a matter I know nothing about. If they have been asked to answer questions over decisions they took while in office, they should do that honourably.”
But faulting Obasanjo, the Ijaw Union in a statement by its heads, Ebitari Dombraye and Awengidappa Wilson, argued that querying the former President is necessary, and described his exoneration of himself from the deal as “psychic purveyor of untruths.”
Part of the statement read, “Former President Obasanjo held sway, not only as president between 1999 and 2007 but also as petroleum minister, during which he performed the duties and responsibilities as enshrined within the Petroleum Act of 1969.
“For him to absolve himself of responsibility, only serves to give credence as a psychotic purveyor of untruths. Obasanjo gave approvals, all in writing to reinstate Malabu’s license to OPL 245 after protracted court cases and national assembly resolutions threatened to lay waste to the asset.
“This approval was validated by two successive Nigerian presidents thereafter. If Chief Obasanjo’s claim has any currency, are we saying none of the individuals and ministries in the deal got involved without the knowledge of the president or minister of petroleum who were one and the same person?”
The union noted that the government must carry out due diligence in the Malabu deal investigations.
A recent report by an American news website, Buzzfeed, had also alleged that it was possible former President Goodluck Jonathan, a former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), and some lawmakers got about $400million from the $1.3billion Malabu scam.
The report was sequel to a revelation by a former Russian Ambassador and Intelligence Officer, Ednan Agaev, when he spoke with officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States as well as Italian prosecutors.
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