Two members of the U.S. Congress are urging the Department of Justice to reopen an investigation into oil giants Shell and Eni over allegations of corruption surrounding a 2011 deal for lucrative Nigerian oil bloc OPL 245. Their call comes after Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu controversially restored the oil block’s ownership to the European firms.
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In a letter dated May 8, 2024 to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Representatives Maxine Waters and Joyce Beatty alleged that Shell and Eni violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by paying over $1.1 billion in bribes to Nigerian officials, including former President Goodluck Jonathan, to secure the OPL 245 oil rights.
“Available evidence implicates both companies in a scheme that resulted in the payment of $1.1 billion in bribes to Nigerian government officials,” stated the lawmakers from the financial services and national security committees.
They emphasized that U.S. law prohibits American firms from bribing foreign officials to benefit their business interests. Shell and Eni, being registered with the SEC, “continue to profit from the deal in violation of the FCPA,” they added.
The legislators cited reporting earlier this year by Nigerian news outlet Peoples Gazette that exposed how Tinubu negotiated a deal to have Shell and Eni transfer lucrative assets to Oando Plc, an oil firm run by his nephew Wale Tinubu, in exchange for restoring OPL 245 ownership.
Waters and Beatty expressed concern that the suspension of arbitration proceedings at international tribunals over OPL 245 until May 23 “suggests that a settlement is being negotiated” which has drawn more corruption allegations in the Nigerian press.
They urged the DOJ to reopen the case to demonstrate U.S. commitment to aggressively pursuing foreign bribery and send “a powerful message” against corporate crime globally.
Neither the DOJ nor Nigerian officials immediately responded to requests for comment. Shell and Eni have previously denied wrongdoing related to the OPL 245 deal in Nigeria.
The lawmakers’ letter highlights continuing scrutiny over the controversial $1.3 billion OPL 245 transaction that has been plagued by corruption claims for over a decade across multiple countries.
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