ECONOMIC and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, will today arraign Mr. Jide Omokore, an ally of a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke. The EFCC will also arraign Mr. Andrew Yakubu, a former Group Managing Director of the NigerianNational Petropeum Corporation, before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on four counts of Money Laundering. Other defendants to be charged are: Victor Briggs, Abiye Memnere, David Mbanefo, Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Limited. In 2011 during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Atlantic Energy Limited, Mr Omokore’s company, alongside other companies were allegedly given multibillion dollar worth of public assets without due process. As at the time, the company, which was barely a year old and had no history of producing a droplet of oil, was awarded controlling stakes in two lucrative oil blocks – OML 30 and 34 – for just over $50 million each. The deal, which was signed by the immediate past minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison- Madueke, gave Atlantic Energy Limited a controlling 55 percent stake in the oil block. Interestingly, Shell, which owned the remaining 45 per cent stake, fetched $1.3 billion for a single field after an open and competitive bidding process. Incorporated as Atlantic Drilling Energy Concept Limited on July 19, 2010, it signed a Strategic Alliance Agreement with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, shortly afterwards. The NPDC is the upstream production subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Under the agreement, Atlantic took charge of four oil blocks- OML 26 FHN, OML 30 Shoreline, OML 34 Niger-Delta Oil and OML 42 Neconde. It was to provide funds, technical services, drill and sell crude oil. The company was also accused of lifting crude oil, but remitting only a fraction of its worth to government. …Read More
Source:: Nigerian Pilot
