In a strongly worded press statement released on March 25, 2026, Nigeria’s Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef O. Fagbemi, SAN, has fiercely defended the Tinubu administration’s landmark resolution of the decades-long dispute over Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245, dismissing criticisms from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as self-serving and unpatriotic.
The statement addresses recent media reports from Atiku’s media office, which downplayed the government’s achievement in settling a contentious oil block saga that has lingered for nearly 30 years. OPL 245, a promising deep offshore asset located about 150 kilometres from Nigeria’s coastline, was first awarded to Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd in 1998 under the Abacha regime. It was revoked in 2001 and reallocated to Shell Nigeria Ultra-Deep Limited (SNUD) in 2002, sparking years of litigation and National Assembly hearings.
A key turning point came with the 2011 Resolution Agreement, under which Malabu relinquished its claims in exchange for consideration, and the Federal Government reassigned the block to SNUD (now SNEPCo) and Nigerian Agip Exploration (NAE)/Eni as joint holders, with a commitment to convert it into an Oil Mining Lease (OML). International probes in the US, UK, and Italy, including high-profile corruption trials, ultimately cleared Eni, SNEPCo, and the overall transaction of wrongdoing.
Despite this, delays in the OML conversion prompted Eni and NAE to file an ICSID arbitration claim in 2020 under the Nigeria-Netherlands Bilateral Investment Treaty, exposing Nigeria to potential liabilities exceeding $2 billion. The current administration’s decisive intervention has now resolved this arbitration, averting massive financial risks and unlocking development of the block.
Fagbemi emphasised that the dispute was strictly about Nigeria’s treaty obligations regarding the licence conversion—not ownership claims by Malabu stakeholders, who did not participate in the ICSID proceedings. He highlighted a recent Court of Appeal ruling in Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited v. Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd (2025) 15 NWLR (Pt 2009) 551, which dismissed Malabu’s challenge as statute-barred and an abuse of process.
The AGF painted OPL 245 as one of Nigeria’s most commercially viable hydrocarbon assets, long stalled by legal wrangling. Its full development under the new agreement is projected to add approximately 150,000 barrels per day to national oil production, featuring a large-scale floating production system and gas export ties to Nigeria LNG. This promises substantial revenue, energy security, and investor confidence for over 200 million Nigerians.
Fagbemi warned that persistent opposition, despite overwhelming legal, commercial, and national interest grounds, reveals “undisclosed and self-serving interests” rather than genuine patriotism. Such efforts, he argued, seek to frustrate a lawful resolution that transforms a symbol of unrealised potential into a bankable project delivering economic and social benefits.
He urged Nigerians to reject these narratives and prioritise the collective good over narrow personal or political agendas. The resolution, achieved under President Bola Tinubu’s leadership, marks a strategic victory for Nigeria’s upstream sector after years of stagnation.
