Mohammed Abacha heads to supreme court over Malabu Oil and Gas ownership

Mohammed Abacha, son of the late Nigerian military head of state, Sani Abacha, has initiated proceedings to challenge a recent judgment of the Court of Appeal that dismissed his claim to the ownership of Malabu Oil and Gas Limited.

Through his legal team, led by senior lawyer Reuben Atabo, Abacha has filed a motion seeking leave to appeal the appellate court’s May 23, 2025, ruling at the Supreme Court.

The dispute centres on the controversial Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245, one of Nigeria’s most valuable oil blocks. Abacha claims he is the rightful owner of Malabu Oil, the company originally awarded the licence in 1998 during his father’s regime. He contends that his name was unlawfully removed from the company’s records at the Corporate Affairs Commission without his consent.

The legal battle began when Abacha approached the Federal High Court to challenge the federal government’s reallocation of OPL 245 to oil giants Shell and Agip, following a $1.1 billion deal in 2011 brokered by the government. Agip’s legal counsel, Babatunde Fagbohunlu, filed a preliminary objection arguing, among other points, that the suit was statute-barred since it was brought more than five years after the transaction occurred.

In 2020, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court dismissed the objection, prompting the parties to approach the Court of Appeal. On May 23, 2025, a three-member panel led by Justice Hamma Akawu Barka set aside Nyako’s ruling, holding that the lower court failed to address crucial legal questions raised by Agip, including whether the case was filed outside the three-month statutory period for such matters.

In response, Abacha’s legal team filed a motion on June 4 asking the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal the judgment to the Supreme Court, arguing that the case involves mixed questions of law and fact. The motion also seeks leave to raise new legal issues identified in multiple grounds of a proposed notice of appeal.

In an affidavit submitted by Edwin John, Abacha’s legal representatives argue that serious questions of law remain unresolved and that there is a real possibility of success if the Supreme Court hears the case. John emphasized that denying the motion would permanently bar the applicant from exercising his constitutional right to appeal and that no prejudice would be suffered by the respondents if the motion were granted.

The controversy over OPL 245 has been ongoing for decades. The 2011 deal that transferred the block from Malabu to Shell and Eni included a $1.1 billion payment, plus an additional $210 million in signature bonuses to the Nigerian government. While the transaction was meant to settle long-standing disputes over the oil block, it has since been mired in allegations of corruption, with international watchdogs claiming the funds were used to bribe government officials.

Abacha maintains that Malabu was not represented in the 2011 settlement and that the ownership transfer violated both corporate and legal norms. The Supreme Court’s eventual decision may shape the final chapter of a saga that has entangled oil multinationals, Nigerian officials, and the legacy of one of the country’s most controversial regimes.