MILAN, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The sale of a Nigerian oilfield to
Eni and Royal Dutch Shell was legally
"perfect" and there was no proof of any corruption, a lawyer for
former Nigerian oil minister Dan Etete said on Wednesday.
Antonio Secci told a Milan court that prosecutors in the
case had been unable to show exactly what role Etete was meant
to have had in the alleged corruption of Nigerian public
officials - if he had corrupted politicians or had simply been
an intermediary between the two majors and the Abuja government.
Eni and Shell acquired the offshore OLP 245 field in 2011
for about $1.3 billion from Malabu, a company owned by the
former Nigerian oil minister.
Prosecutors allege that about $1.1 billion of that money was
siphoned off to politicians and middlemen, half of it to Etete
himself.
Shell says the 2011 agreement was a settlement of
long-standing litigation, following the previous allocation of
the block by the Nigerian government to Shell and Malabu.
Secci told the court the money had first been paid into an
escrow account owned by the Nigerian government before then
being transferred to Malabu "without any corruption (involving
Nigerian public officials) emerging."
He called for his client to be acquitted.
Besides Eni and Shell, another 13 people, including current
Eni Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi, are involved in the
long-running graft case.
All the defendants have denied any wrongdoing, saying the
purchase price was paid into an official Nigerian government
account with all subsequent transfers being beyond their
control.
Defence lawyers for the former Shell managers involved will
be heard in the trial on Dec. 9.
(Reporting by Alfredo Faieta, writing by Stephen Jewkes
Editing by Marguerita Choy)