Ijaw group urges proper probe in Malabu oil deal

Ijaw Union, a socio-political group, has called for a proper investigations and due process in unraveling issues surrounding the Malabu/OPL 245 deal.
The group said sensationalism by ‘statesmen’ and investigative agencies would not reveal the truth about the issue.
In a statement jointly signed by Ebitari Dombraye and Awengidappa Wilson on behalf of the group, they decried the ongoing public debate and investigations on the Malabu/OPL 245 saga and the ‘extraordinary comments credited to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.’
According to them, Obasanjo was quoted to have exonerated himself, while in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on March 14, 2017, when queried on the subject matter.
“Without prejudice to the ongoing investigations by multiple agencies in Nigeria and abroad on the Malabu/OPL 245 matter, the Ijaw Union would like to inform Niger Deltans about the organised witch-hunt by some powerful people in Nigeria, who support the continued oppression of our people,” they stated.

The group noted that Obasanjo held sway, not only as President of Nigeria between 1999 and 2007, but also as its Petroleum Minister within the same period, when he performed the duties and responsibilities as enshrined within the Petroleum Act of 1969.

“For him to at the first hint of controversy, seeks to throw his subordinates like His Majesty, Chief Edwin Dakouru, then Minister of State for Petroleum and Bayo Ojo (SAN), then Attorney General under the proverbial bus, while absolving himself of responsibility, only serves to give credence to the many stories about his unstable personality,” they said.
The group expressed shock that the former president now claims not to be aware that he approved the return of OPL 245, the most controversial oil block in the world back to Malabu Oil & Gas for political correctness, adding that Obasanjo is in the best position to reveal the truth on the matter.