The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, has accused critics of the federal government’s resolution of the long-running OPL 245 dispute of pursuing “selfish” rather than patriotic interests.
In a strongly worded statement issued on March 25, the AGF specifically took aim at comments attributed to the media office of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, dismissing them as misleading and lacking in objectivity.
“The attention of the Attorney-General has been drawn to media reports which contain misrepresentations concerning the recent resolution of disputes associated with the OPL 245 oil block,” the statement said.
Fagbemi described the settlement as “a landmark achievement” by the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, noting that it brings closure to a dispute that has lingered for nearly three decades.
“It will be recalled that the block was originally awarded to Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd in April 1998, revoked in July 2001, and subsequently allocated to Shell Nigeria Ultra-Deep Limited in May 2002,” he stated, adding that the overlapping claims triggered years of litigation and legislative scrutiny.
The AGF outlined how the disputes were eventually addressed through the 2011 Resolution Agreement involving the Federal Government, Malabu, and international oil companies, including Shell and Eni. Under that deal, Malabu relinquished its claims, paving the way for the reallocation of the block and its eventual conversion into an Oil Mining Lease (OML).
He further emphasized that the transaction had been subjected to extensive legal scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy none of which established wrongdoing against the companies involved.
On the international front, Fagbemi revealed that Nigeria had faced a potential liability exceeding $2 billion following arbitration proceedings initiated at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) by Eni and its affiliates.
“The arbitration focused strictly on whether Nigeria had wrongfully delayed or refused the conversion of OPL 245 into an OML,” he explained, stressing that individuals now claiming interests in Malabu neither participated in nor had legal standing in those proceedings.
Highlighting the economic significance of the asset, the AGF described OPL 245 as “one of the country’s most commercially promising hydrocarbon assets,” located about 150 kilometres offshore but left undeveloped for decades due to legal and political disputes.
He said the Tinubu administration’s intervention has now unlocked the block’s potential, with projections indicating it could add about 150,000 barrels per day to Nigeria’s oil output.
“For decades, OPL 245 symbolized unrealized national potential. The present resolution… transforms it into a viable and bankable development opportunity,” Fagbemi said.
He also referenced a recent Court of Appeal judgment Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited v. Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd (2025) which dismissed Malabu’s challenge to the allocation of the block, ruling it statute-barred and an abuse of court process.
In a direct rebuke to critics, the AGF said continued opposition to the resolution raises serious questions about motive.
“The persistence of these criticisms strongly suggests that they are driven not by patriotism or objective reasoning, but by undisclosed and self-serving interests,” he said.
“Those advancing such narratives represent an attempt to frustrate a lawful and strategic resolution that stands to unlock immense value for the Nigerian people.”
Fagbemi urged Nigerians to remain cautious of what he described as efforts to derail progress, warning that “the national interest must not be sacrificed on the altar of a hidden agenda.”