A Federal High Court in Abuja has discharged an interim forfeiture order on the Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245.
Justice John Tsoho today vacated the order of interim forfeiture in his ruling on an application by Shell Nigeria Exploration & Production Company Ltd and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited.
The judge held that the ex parte application relied upon for the order was irregular.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had claimed that OPL 245 is subject of illegal activities for which it has filed criminal charges against former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), former Petroleum Minister Dan Etete and businessman Aliyu Ibrahim, over their alleged role in the diversion of $1.1bn from the Malabu deal.
Details later..