Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has insisted that the long-running dispute over Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 remains unresolved, stressing that multiple legal proceedings are still ongoing in Nigerian courts.
Atiku’s position comes in response to remarks by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, who described the former vice president’s intervention as an attempt to derail progress for personal or political motives.
Speaking earlier, Fagbemi urged Nigerians to rely on what he described as the most recent and authoritative judicial pronouncements on the matter. He referenced the Court of Appeal decision in Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited v. Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd (2025), which dismissed Malabu’s challenge to the allocation of OPL 245 to Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited, ruling that the case was statute-barred and an abuse of court process.
However, in a statement issued Thursday by the Atiku Media Office, the former presidential candidate rejected the Attorney-General’s claims, describing them as misleading and a diversion from critical legal and factual issues surrounding the alleged resolution of the dispute.
Atiku maintained that his stance is based on verifiable public records, including a pre-action notice issued by Malabu Oil and Gas Limited, which raises legal objections to the reported settlement. According to him, key stakeholders were neither consulted nor involved in negotiations, while several cases related to the oil block remain pending before competent courts, including the Supreme Court and the Federal High Court.
He further criticised the Attorney-General’s comments as dismissive of legitimate concerns rooted in due legal process, warning against attempts to frame such interventions as self-serving.
“In a constitutional democracy, raising questions based on verifiable records is not opposition—it is responsibility,” the statement read, adding that the OPL 245 issue remains one of Nigeria’s most significant and controversial oil asset disputes, with a history of complex litigation and international scrutiny.
Atiku also reiterated that he has no personal interest in OPL 245, stating that his intervention is driven solely by public interest and the need to uphold the rule of law.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government had earlier announced that a settlement agreement with Eni and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (NAEL) had brought the protracted dispute to an end. The development was disclosed in a statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Information and Strategy, who described the agreement as a milestone for Nigeria’s economic repositioning.
Despite this, Atiku’s latest remarks signal that legal uncertainties surrounding OPL 245 may persist, raising fresh questions about transparency, due process, and the finality of the government’s claimed resolution.
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