International civil society organisations namely ReCommon (Italy), Hawkmoth (Netherlands), and The Corner House (United Kingdom), have jointly written to President Bola Tinubu, expressing “grave concern” about reports that Nigeria would end all OPL 245-related criminal cases against the companies and other defendants in the country.

In their letter dated June 2, 2024 and titled, ‘OPL 245-related Prosecutions in Nigeria: Upholding the Rule of Law in independence of prosecutorial agencies,’ the organisations expressed worry about reports that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Attorney General of the Federation had been ordered to end the cases.

The letter was jointly signed by Nicholas Hildyard, Co-founder, Cornerhouse; Antonio Tricarico, Director, Re:common and Simon Taylor, Co-founder, Hawkmoth and copied to The Implementation Monitoring Group; The Director General, UNODC-UNCAC, Vienna; and the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

It reads in part, “As a signatory to the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), Nigeria has undertaken to ensure that anti-corruption prosecutorial authorities have the necessary independence to enable them ‘to carry out their functions effectively and without any undue influence’ (Article 6.2).

“President Buhari’s insistence that OPL 245-related prosecutions must be allowed to take their course sent a strong signal that Nigeria was serious in honouring this obligation and in upholding the rule of law. That principled position won widespread international approval and markedly assisted the cooperation of other countries in tracing several stolen assets, including the return to Nigeria of some $80 million in OPL 245-related funds.

“Any perception that corruption-related prosecutions in Nigeria are now subject to political interference would seriously set back the progress that has been made and would disastrously undermine future collaboration with agencies abroad in the fight against corruption, in addition to eroding the confidence of investors and increasing the costs of investing in Nigeria, and adversely affecting the terms of any loans that Nigeria is currently negotiating with the Word Bank and other International Finance Institutions.”

The international organisations noted that it is of “critical importance that the independence of the EFCC with respect to its intended appeal against recent OPL 245-related High Court judgments in Nigeria is guaranteed”.

The letter further reads, “Regardless of any agreement that Nigeria reaches with Eni and Shell over the conversion of the OPL 245 licence, the rule of law must be upheld and an appeal (if deemed by the EFCC to be merited) must be allowed to proceed.

“As you may be aware, legal challenges related to OPL 245 continue outside of Nigeria. Moreover, leading members of the US House of Representatives are pressing for the US Department of Justice to reopen its investigation of the case.

“The investigatory division of a leading global financial institution is also aware of the negotiations relating to the conversion of the OPL 245 licence. The independence of the decision relating to OPL-related prosecutions in Nigeria are therefore being closely monitored abroad.

“Mr President, we urge you to ensure the independence of the EFCC in its deliberations as to an appeal in the Nigerian OPL 245 cases. Nigeria’s international standing – and your own reputation – will depend critically on justice not only being done but being seen to be done.”

“We take this opportunity also to urge that any agreement on conversion of the OPL 245 licence be made public, in line with Nigeria’s commitments under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative,” the letter adds.

In May, the international organisations along with HEDA Resource Centre (Nigeria) in a 10-page report submitted to the National Assembly criticised the role of industry giants Shell and Eni in perpetuating environmental degradation and expressed concern about their proposed divestments from onshore oil licenses.

The coalition emphasised that the devastation caused by oil companies demanded immediate, holistic, participatory, and decisive action.

“The international oil companies should not be permitted to evade their obligations to remediate the legacy of pollution, regardless of its origins,” the report states.