An anti-corruption coalition has petitioned President Muhamadu Buhari not to allow oil giants Eni and Shell to bully Nigeria, saying the ruling of an Italian court that acquitted them of wrongdoing should not prevent their prosecution in Nigeria.

In the petition by Luca Manes of Re: Common, Nicholas Hildyard of The Corner House, Olanrewaju Suraju of HEDA Resource Centre, and Simon Taylor of Global Witness, the group lamented that the recent Supreme Court rulings had set the bar for international corruption so high that a conviction is difficult unless there is naked evidence of a bribe paid, captured on camera or tape.

Peoples Gazette learnt Eni, Shell, and some Nigerian officials were involved in underhanded dealings involving billions of embezzled funds.

On March 17, a Milan tribunal ruled that the 13 defendants in OPL 245 international corruption trial had no case to answer. But, the group said there were prospects of an appeal in Italy.

The coalition noted that the Milan public prosecutor’s office might appeal the verdict, saying unlike in Nigeria and other common law jurisdictions, Italian law does not permit judges to convict based on circumstantial evidence.

“We fear that the OPL 245 case may have fallen at this hurdle, despite the voluminous evidence submitted by the prosecutor as to the knowledge of Shell and Eni that bribes would be paid; that the resolution agreements were designed by the two companies to use the Federal Government of Nigeria as a shield to protect themselves from making direct payments to Etete; and the meticulous tracing of where the payments ended up,” the group said.

The coalition argued that because of the differences between legal systems in Italy and Nigeria, no “double jeopardy” agreement existed between the two countries, Eni, Shell, Etete, Abubakar, and several others (charged in Milan) are also prosecuted in Nigeria.

The coalition added, “We are aware of mischievous, self-serving calls in the press from allies of those being charged that the Nigerian prosecutions should be dropped on the basis that Milan has found no case to answer. These calls must be rejected. Italy is not in charge of Nigeria’s justice system. The judges in Nigeria must be allowed to hear the cases and to judge them on the basis of Nigerian law. Indeed, the world is now watching the Nigerian prosecutions,” it said.

According to the coalition, the need to put the Milan judgment into perspective is urgent given allegations that the trial “may have been polluted.”

The Milan prosecutor sought to admit a statement by Piero Amara, a former outside counsel for Eni, that Eni had conducted surveillance of the prosecutors, key witnesses, and judges to discredit witnesses or gain an advantage in the trial, the global anti-corruption coalition asserted.

Explaining further, the coalition noted, “The allegations were investigated by the Italian authorities but were dismissed after Eni denied them. If true, Amara’s allegations would constitute strong grounds for a retrial. We, therefore, urge Nigeria, as the victim in the case, to demand that the full text of Amara’s evidence is made public so that the Nigerian public – and the wider international community – can be satisfied that there was nothing untoward in the conduct of the trial.”

It urged Mr Buhari “to hold the line and to resist siren calls for negotiations with Eni and Shell in the wake of the Milan trial.”

It, therefore, urged the companies to respect the prosecutorial process in Nigeria and not to use a judgment in Italy to bully Nigeria into making concessions that undermine local laws.

The coalition described the recent arbitration cases filed with ICSID by both companies claiming unsubstantiated and exaggerated damages to confirm their bullying and not the respectful attitude towards Nigeria.

“We as civil society organisations and partners in the promotion of accountability in the extractive sector are in solidarity with the Nigerian government and Italian prosecutors in ensuring justice is delivered in this and other relevant cases,” it added.