No one dislikes a good story. From time immemorial, a good drama had always held theatre goers by the jugular, keeping them enthralled with unexpected denouements and well crafted epiphanies. Enters the Theatre of the Absurd, where the conventional mores are jettisoned, and existential realities taper into stark hopelessness and despair. This seems to be the storyline of the $1.1billion Malabu oil deal. The plot and characterisation in the Malabu narrative exudes the finesse of a master craftsman, an elite storyteller in the pantheons of Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy et al. Here, the judge adorns the cloak of the thief, and the protagonist is also the antagonist. Ministers smolder in the mystic wisps of a Peller, making huge funds vanish in a season of Abracadabra. In the past, any hope for the recovery of the funds alleged assisted in flight by the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke and former Minister of Petroleum Resources. Mrs. Diezani Alison- Madueke, seemed like Waiting for Godot; but a sudden twist in the tale seems to be in the offing with the commencement of the investigation by the House of Representatives ad hoc Committee on the Investigation of alleged corruption, malpractices and breach of due process in the award of OPL 245 headed by Hon. Razak Atunwa. There are lots of silent questions about this fairy tale deal screaming for answers. Apparently, the country Nigeria has been duped of a huge amount of dollars which are now nestling in unusual bank accounts in Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States of America, but is the Razak Atunwa- headed committee about to complete the Mission Impossible? Recall that this same assignment was too profound for the 7th House to handle under the leadership of Waziri Tambuwal, would Yakubu Dogara's 8th House take the glory? Atunwa puts the scope of the stolen funds in perspective during the inaugural sitting of the Committee: "The Nigerian People deserve to know what happened to their $1.1 billion. At today's exchange rate, that is over N500billion. That amount can fund the entire budget of the Ministry of Education. It is double the entire budget of Ministry of Health. It is more than the Capital Expenditure of Works, Power and Housing." According to Atunwa, OPL 245 is the largest oil bloc in Africa. "It is a potentially highly lucrative oil bloc encompassing a massive area of about 1, 958 square kilometres and is estimated to hold up to 9.2 billion barrels of crude oil."Is it possible that even this was an underestimation? Could there be more? Why has the Nigerian government refused to act on the Malabu oil deal in spite of the request for Mutual Legal Assistance sent by the office of the Public Prosecutor in Milan, Italy, received by the Ministry of Justice on 13th October, 2015? Why has the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission been sitting on the file since last year and not said a word? And what exactly was the motive behind the letter of the Majority Shareholders of Malabu to Speaker Yakubu Dogara dated 10th October, 2016, warning the House not to jeopardize their interest with the Razak Atunwa-led investigation? Are they saying the status quo should remain? And who is Ednan Agaev anyway? He is in US Supreme Court of New York and has deposed an affidavit against Malabu, claiming he is entitled to $65.5 million for services of transferring Malabu's rights on OPL245 for the sum of $1.1 billion dollars" Maybe he can help us with who got what? Former AGF, Mohammed Adoke, is now said to be resident in Netherlands. Shell is a Dutch company, is there a connection? Are they protecting him? Why have NNPC, Malabu Oil and AA Oil and Gas been reluctant to put up an appearance? Why is the Chairman of the Committee, Rasak Atunwa, suddenly being pestered by strange calls and high profile visitors all of a sudden? A member of the House, who pleaded not be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said: "A lot of Nigerians are curious about a lot of things. I'm curious about why key players, including the National Assembly, have not done their part; I'm curious that this deal that everybody in earth has heard about has not been resolved one way or the other. I'm curious as to why the Attorney- General's office have not been very active, particularly since his predecessor was involved. I'm curious as to why there was a very robust enquiry in the 7th National Assembly and how it was inconclusive. I'm curious about why NNPC is worryingly quiet. "Many are hoping this investigation will not dovetail into another Tales by the Moonlight. There are powerful forces against this investigation. I believe Atunwa can hold up pretty good, he is a man of integrity; but what about the members of his committee? A chain is only as strong as its weakest link," an analyst said. But like Atunwa said in his opening remarks on the 5th October, 2016, it is not going to be an easy job. "if we must fight corruption, we must fight it fearlessly," he had said. Nigerians agree with him.
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