Nigeria charges Shell, Eni with corruption in oil bloc sale
JOHANNESBURG — Nigeria has filed criminal charges of corruption against oil multinationals Royal Dutch Shell and Eni over the $1.1 billion sale of one of Africa’s richest oil blocks.
Both companies have denied any wrongdoing.
Charges filed at the High Court in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, allege the companies paid $801 million to former Oil Minister Dan Etete, former Justice Minister Mohammed Bello Adoke and businessman Aliyu Abubakar for the license to OPL 245. Nigeria’s government got only $210 million from the deal.
“These charges show Nigeria’s intention to fight corruption by holding the powerful to account,” Simon Taylor of corruption watchdog Global Witness said in a statement Saturday. “The days when oil companies could use their influence to keep backroom deals with corrupt officials under wraps are over.”