Former President Goodluck Jonathan has denied any involvement in the Malabu Oil deal scandal which reportedly occurred during his presidency.
This is following reports that indicted the ex-president and his petroleum minister, Diezani Allison Madueke for allegedly benefiting from the deal which saw oil giants ENI and Royal Dutch Shell pay about $1.3 billion into accounts controlled by Jonathan’s allies.
Jonathan’s spokesman, Ikechukwu Eze, said the allegations were false as the said deal had taken place before the former president assumed office.
Eze wrote: “Our attention has been drawn to news reports published mostly by online media which suggested through innuendo, rather than factual evidence, that former President Goodluck Jonathan received kickbacks in the $1.3bn OPL 245 oil block deal involving oil giants ENI and Royal Dutch Shell.
“With regards to the publication, we wish to make it clear that former President Jonathan was not accused, indicted or charged for corruptly collecting any monies as kickbacks or bribes from ENI by the Italian authorities or any other law enforcement body the world over.”
“In the first place, we have to categorically state that the negotiations and transactions for the oil block deal predate the presidency of Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan which began on 6th May 2010 and ended on 29th May 2015.”
Eze stated that as president, Jonathan met with executives of all the oil majors operating in Nigeria and urged them to, amongst other things, support the growth of the Nigerian oil industry but “that at no time did the former president hold private meetings with representatives of ENI to discuss pecuniary issues.”
“All the meetings and discussions former President Jonathan had with ENI, other IOCs and some indigenous operators were conducted officially, and in the presence of relevant Nigerian Government officials and were done in the best interest of the country.
“It may interest those promoting this false narrative to know that all the documents relating to the transactions, issues and decisions of the federal government on the Malabo issue, during the Jonathan administration, are in the office of the Attorney General of the federation/minister of Justice,” the statement added.
The ex-president’s spokesman also denied the claims that Money was paid to one Abubakar Aliyu on behalf of the former president as was alleged in the report.
The statement also said that Jonathan does not operate any foreign bank account, neither does he own a private aircraft or real estate outside Nigeria.