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Former President Goodluck Jonathan, has denied media reports that he received kickbacks in the $1.3bn OPL 245 oil block deal involving oil giants ENI and Royal Dutch Shell. Jonathan denied the claims in a statement signed and released by his media adviser, Ikechukwu Eze. The statement reads;

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.

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.

As President of Nigeria, there is no doubt that Dr. Goodluck 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 by ramping up their investments and comply with

the Local Content Act that he promoted and signed into law.

We however wish to state, for emphasis, 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.

We make bold to point out that the former President never sent any

Abubakar Aliyu, as the innuendoes in the false report suggest, to ENI,

the IOCs or any indigenous operator to seek favour or collect any

gratification on his behalf.

We will like to point out for the umpteenth time that whether in

office or out of office, former President Jonathan does not own any

bank account, aircraft or real estate outside Nigeria. Anyone with

contrary information is challenged to publicly publish same.

As the President who signed the Freedom of Information Act into law,

Dr. Goodluck Jonathan lifted the veil on governance and encouraged

transparency knowing that evil breeds in secrecy. It is the opinion of

the former President that journalists and media houses should take

advantage of this law in their investigative journalism, rather than

rely on hearsay.

We hope that these clarifications will help guide future reports which

should be factual.

Ikechukwu Eze

Media Adviser to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan

(President 2010-2015)