A former Russian diplomat, Ednan Agaev, who once
alleged that former President, Goodluck Jonathan, allegedly received $200
million in the controversial Malabu oil deal, has reversed himself on the
claim, stressing that the initial statement in which he indicted the former president
was made under duress.
Agaev, a middleman and defendant in the case,
helped to negotiate the transfer of the OPL 245 oil block to Shell and Eni, two
multinationals at the heart of the scandal. He made the new claim last Wednesday
while giving evidence before an Italian court in Milan over the controversial
Malabu scandal.
According to Premium Times report, Agaev’s initial
statement was read, but he declined to confirm the statement, claiming he was
under pressure in the interview to mention a name.
When confronted with his exact statement alleging
that Jonathan may have received money, a defence lawyer interrupted and
objected to the evidence on payments to the former president.
Agaev, when further asked whether he thought Jonathan
got money from the deal, said his statement to the FBI should be understood
that he thought it was a possibility money would go to Jonathan, but he had no
evidence.
Commenting on his previous statement, Agaev said it
was just speculation, and declined to confirm his statement. It was reported
that at this point, the President of the court, however, silenced him even as
the lawyer continued to interrupt. He promptly denied any wrongdoing.
In 2017, BuzzFeed quoted a 2017 excerpt of FBI
submissions to Italian authorities wherein Agaev alleged that if former Minster
of Petroleum, Mr. Dan Etete, actually paid out bribes to Nigerian officials,
“Agaev stated that he would think President Goodluck Jonathan got at least $200
million of this money.”
President Jonathan, who has continued to declare
his innocence on many occasions, recently described the allegation as “cheap,
predictable and recycled falsehood.”
A statement issued in May by Jonathan’s media
adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, said: “Former President Goodluck Jonathan did not ask
for or collect any bribes neither has he been charged for asking nor collecting
bribes nor will he ever be charged with asking for or collecting bribes because
such never happened.”
The Malabu scandal involved the transfer of about
$1.1 billion by Shell and ENI through the Nigerian Government to accounts
controlled by Etete.
The transaction was allegedly authorised in 2011 by
Jonathan through some of his cabinet ministers and the money was payment for
OPL 245, one of Nigeria’s richest oil blocks.
Speaking at the Milan court last Wednesday, Agaev
disclosed that he knew former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, for the first
time in 1980s and campaigned for the his release in 1990s but didn’t learn
about OPL 245 until 2008 when he was working for a Russian oil company.
He further disclosed that he knew the OPL 245 block
was revoked because Etete was associated with Malabu, the company that owned the
block. He alleged further that Obasanjo said the block was intended for late
Sani Abacha, a former Nigerian military ruler.
According to Barnaby Pace, a campaigner at
anti-corruption group, Global Witness, who was at the Milan Court, the
defendant explained that after Abacha’s death, the company fell to Etete.
Agaev, who started his career for the Soviet Union
Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he was a senior official for arms control,
disclosed that his job was only to find an investor because Etete was in charge
of negotiating with the Nigerian Government and he didn’t need any help or
contacts from him.
The next hearing of the controversial case is scheduled for
July 17.
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