OPL 245: Groups Advise Buhari To Resist $15bn Siren Calls

Three international and local civil society groups – ReCommon, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) and Corner House have jointly written to President Buhari on the recent developments with regards to the various court proceedings relating to the corrupt award in 2011 of the OPL 245 Oil field to Eni and Shell, calling on the government to fight the corruption.

In a letter dated 4th of November 2022 addressed to President Muhammdu Buhari, titled Recent Developments on OPL 245, highlighted some positive developments and also set priorities for the federal government in demanding justice from the OPL245 deal.

The three-page letter, signed by Olanrewaju Suraju for HEDA, Nicholas Hildyard for Cornerhouse and Antonio Tricarico for ReCommon, reads in part, “we write at a time when many states in Nigeria have been devastated by climate change-induced floods. Our hearts and solidarity go out to the 1.5 million who have been affected. We have no doubt that the huge costs of repairing the damage – estimated at some $15 billion – will spur calls to get the OPL 245 oil revenues flowing. We urge you to resist these siren calls.”

Meanwhile, the group mentioned in the letter that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) had earlier condemned the Italian authorities over Milan judgement saying, the elements of the judgement did “not conform to the Convention” as Italy was in breach of its international treaty obligations.

“We hope that the OECD report will also strengthen the backbone of the Nigerian Ministry of Justice to resist pressure to drop the extant criminal prosecutions of Shell and Eni in Nigeria over the OPL 245 deal.

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On the legal challenge against Dutch prosecutor’s decision to abandon investigation and prosecution of the Shell, the three bodies – HEDA, ReCommon and Corner House are not willing to let that stand and urged the Nigerian government to join the case as an injured party.

“In October, we filed our complaint to the Court of Appeal in The Hague challenging the Prosecutors ’decision. We acknowledge that Royal Dutch Shell plc cannot be prosecuted for bribery in relation to the OPL245 deal (the substance of the Italian prosecution) but contend that there is sufficient evidence to warrant further investigation and prosecution for a range of other crimes, including money laundering, fencing, fraud, theft and membership of a criminal organisation,” he said.