Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has said the latest development in the long-running OPL 245 dispute, has once again exposed the Federal Government’s premature and misleading claims of a “final resolution”.
He stated contrary to official pronouncements, it is now clear that the matter is far from resolved and remains the subject of multiple subsisting legal proceedings, including cases before the Supreme Court and the Federal High Court.
Latest Development
Malabu Oil and Gas Limited issued a pre-action notice through its counsel, Chief R. O. Atabo, SAN, LL.D, stating Malabu — a principal stakeholder with longstanding legal and equitable interests in OPL 245 — was neither consulted nor involved in any purported negotiation or settlement process.
“This raises fundamental questions about the legality, transparency, and integrity of the so-called “Resolution Agreement” reportedly executed at the Presidential Villa.
“A government that sidelines critical stakeholders, disregards pending judicial processes, and proceeds to celebrate a disputed agreement demonstrates not strength, but recklessness.
“This development is not an isolated incident. It fits into a broader and disturbing pattern that has come to define the Tinubu administration — a pattern of governance driven more by propaganda than by substance, more by optics than by legality, and more by expediency than by national interest.” He noted.
Reports of Planned NNPC Assets
Atiku’s media office also said it received credible reports suggesting a planned sale of up to 30% of Nigeria’s Joint Venture assets under NNPC Limited as well as reports surrounding the relocation of NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services back to Lagos at an alleged annual rental cost exceeding ₦9 billion.
“The OPL 245 controversy is therefore not just about an oil block. It is emblematic of a larger governance crisis — where due process is treated as optional, where legal disputes are repackaged as political victories, and where national assets are handled with troubling opacity.
“The unfolding OPL 245 saga is a stark reminder that no amount of propaganda can substitute for due process. No declaration can override the courts. And no government can outspin the truth indefinitely. History will take note. But more importantly, the Nigerian people are watching — and they will not be deceived.” The statement concluded.
