EXPOSED!!!

HOW THE HONORABLE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PETROLEUEM RESOURCES CHIEF TIMIPRE SYLVA AND THE DIRECTOR,
DEPARTMENT OF PETROLEUM RESOURCES MR. SARKI AUWALU ILLEGALLY SOLD OML 110 TO DAMAS
PETROCHEMICALS & REFINERY LIMITED

When we first published this story on the massive corruption going on in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources involvement in a $20million bribery scam for illegally trying to award OML 110
to the BUA Group without due process, a lot of reactions followed that publication.

In that publication, we revealed how BUA Group and a certain Alhaji Ibrahim Mai Deribe (ex-managing director of
Cavendish Petroleum) have concluded plans to trade off the oil block. BUA and Ibrahim both went to the media to refute
these allegations, all in an effort to conceal the truth. They vehemently denied the allegations and discredited the
publication. They also branded our submissions as ‘malicious, unfounded and false’.

Reacting to the story, BUA Group out rightly dissociated itself from OML 110 and said they have instructed their legal
team to commence criminal defamation proceeding against a certain Mr. James Onyejekwe (MD/CEO, Kainos E&P) for
sponsoring the said publication. Regrettably, Anonymous DO NOT have any relationship whatsoever with Mr. Onyejekwe
neither are we acting on his behalf. Anonymous is a faceless organization set up to expose corrupt practices and officials
in Nigeria. We are what we say we are!

When this matter first came to our attention, we waited and expected the Honourable minister of State for Petroleum
Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva to come out and clarify the matter but he never did. We also expected some reactions
from DPR which never came through. SO THE QUESTION IS; WHAT HAPPENED TO MR. PRESIDENT’S APPROVAL TO
CAVENDISH ON OML 110?

Firstly, and for emphasis sake, Anonymous would like to remain Anonymous. We want to remain Anonymous because we
will be sharing some privileged and confidential documents that ordinarily shouldn’t be in the public domain but for the
injustice being carried out to a company wholly owned by Nigerians.

Anonymous has a mandate; a mandate to identify and expose illegality and corruption in our country. Call it the “wiki
leaks’ of Nigeria and you won’t be wrong. We are advocates for equity, fairness, justice and the rule of law.

Anonymous recognizes the fact that ‘justice’ and the ‘rule of law’ are fundamental recipes for progress. Things must be
done correctly. Processes and procedures must be followed, the Nigerian constitution must be upheld at all times and
people must be held accountable for their actions.

The rule of law prevailed recently when President Muhammadu Buhari reversed the illegal revocation of OMLs 123, 124,
126 and 137 belonging to NNPC/Addax. This case in question clearly indicates that Department of Petroleum Resources
(DPR) erred in its judgment by revocation the license in the first place. From the stories emanating from that ugly saga, it
is clear that DPR failed to act in accordance with the rule of law and ultimately did not follow due process.

A sad and worrying trend playing out in Nigeria especially in the oil and gas industry is the manner in which revoked or
confiscated assets are hurriedly looted by those in top positions. We are all witnesses to the Ibori loot and how the
recovered loot was indeed re-looted by those who were meant to protect them.

The NNPC/Addax saga is to pathetic that those blocks were hurriedly assigned to Kaztech/Slavic Consortium owned by
Emeka Offor and Chaired by one Hassan-Odukale respectively. But for the President’s intervention, Addax would have lost
out completely and all its investment in the asset gone forever. This is the handiwork of corrupt public officer appointed
or elected to protect our national integrity. Imagine the embarrassment the Addax matter would have caused Nigeria in
the International community especially our relationship with China, which continues to remain a major investor in Nigeria.
It is sad to note that this same Addax illegality happened under the direct watch of Chief Timipre Sylva and Mr. Sarki
Auwalu.
On the illegality being carried out on the OML 110 block, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Chief Timipre
Sylva) and the Director, Department of Petroleum Resources (Mr. Sarki Auwalu) have demonstrated clearly that they have
been ‘compromised’. They have collected so much money that they find it difficult doing the right thing.

Anonymous was reliably informed that the Minister deliberately refused to give Cavendish the opportunity to pay off its
debts even after Cavendish had obtained approval from Mr. President. Cavendish had submitted a proof of funds (PoF)
which was verified by DPR. Cavendish requested and obtained the necessary approvals from Mr. President but were still
denied the opportunity to get back their block. Anonymous would like both Sylva and Auwalu to come out and tell
Nigerians why they overturned Mr. President’s approval after making very high recommendations for the restoration of
the block back to Cavendish themselves. What went wrong? How come they suddenly changed their minds? These are
questions Mr. Sylva and Auwalu must answer for justice to be seen to be served.

As stated in our first publication, Anonymous promised to publish relevant documents to substantiate its claims.
Anonymous gave a window of two weeks for the main characters in this saga to clear the air on the allegations but
unfortunately that wasn’t done. Anonymous has no option than to publish these documents for the public to see the rot
happening in the Petroleum Industry.

We also have it documented that our earlier position about BUA Group taking over OML 110 without due process has
been proven right by Damas Petrochemicals & Refinery Limited (a sister company of the BUA Group). We stumbled onto a
tender document from Damas for a wellbore cleaning service in OML 110. Both BUA Group and Damas are one and the
same company, owned by the Isyaku Rabiu family. This is a northern family trying to illegally take over the asset of
another northern family. This has never happened nin the history of Nigeria and Northern Nigeria. This has become only
possible because Ibrahim Mai Deribe sold his family for peanuts. What a shme! .

According to reliable information available to us, Ibrahim Mai Derive, the ex-Managing Director of Cavendish Petroleum
was very bitter about the way and manner he was relieved of his position at Cavendish and invariably went to the Rabius
to propose the OML 110 deal. He is the main architect and brain behind this alignment and has been rewarded with an
offer as Technical Advisor to Adbul Samad Rabiu on OML 110.

Just in case you don’t know, Abdul Samad Rabiu is the Chairman of Damas Petrochemicals & Refinery Limited, a company
with Rc. No: 721374 and registered address is 7 th Floor, AIB Plaza, Adeyemo Alakija Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. BUA
Group and DAMAS Petrochemicals are owned by the Rabius and collectively they have perfected ways to takeover
operatorship of the OML 110 block having paid hugely for it (as they claim).

Anonymous found out other interesting facts about the new alignment and the scheming for this block. It has been
confirmed that the former Managing Director of Cavendish Petroleum, Ibrahim Mai Deribe and Abdul Samad Rabiu were
indeed good friends, a friendship that dates back into the 80s.

As for OML 110, we have it on record that Cavendish Petroleum was the original leasehold owners of OML 110 oil block
and was first awarded the license to operate the block on the 3 rd of October 1996 by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
We were reliably informed that Cavendish drilled seven (7) exploratory wells on the block but only two (2) wells were fully
put into operation by year end 2000. OML 110 license was revoked in 2019 (alongside OMLs 98, 108,120 and 121).

Anonymous also found out a lot has indeed happened since the revocation order was issued. We learnt that Cavendish
Petroleum intensified efforts to pay-off the debts on the block after securing the funds were prevented by the Minister of
State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Timipre Sylva.

We gathered the Cavendish debts stands at about US$4.7million; US$2.7million (Royalty) and US$2million (renewal fee).

In its efforts to pay off the debt and get back the block, Cavendish Petroleum vide a letter dated 4 th March 2020,
requested approval from Mr. President to pay off the outstanding debts. (see attached letter).
This approval request we learnt was sent through the Director, Department of Petroleum Resources and signed by
Ibrahim Mai Deribe (ex-Managing Director of Cavendish).

We reliably gathered that the Director, Department of Petroleum Resources Mr. Sarki Auwalu, based on the letter from
Cavendish, forwarded a strong recommendation letter to the Honourable Minister seeking approval for Cavendish
Petroleum to proceed with the payment. (see below letter from DPR)
On the 8th of July 2020, the Minister of State on Petroleum Resources vide a letter referenced HMS/MPR/001/Vol.1/042
and addressed to Mr. President wrote a letter seeking approval to grant Cavendish their request as recommended by the
Director, DPR. In his letter, Mr. Sylva pleaded with Mr. President to withdraw the existing revocation order on OML 110
and grant Cavendish Petroleum the opportunity to pay-off its outstanding debts on the block. (Below is letter from the
Honorable Minister)
Above letter was written and signed by the Honourable Minister himself. His requests and prayers to Mr. President were
very clear at the time. He was seen to be doing his job.

On the 13th of November 2020 an approval letter with Ref: SH/COS/24/A/9514 from the office of the Chief of Staff (CoS)
was communicated to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources conveying Mr. President’s approval to Cavendish Petroleum.
This approval letter had a 90-day grace period to effect the payment. (see below approval from Mr. President)
Anonymous discovered that Chief Sylva NEVER communicated Mr. President’s approval to Cavendish Petroleum. The
Minister deliberately neglected Mr. President’s approval and kept the letter for the 90-day period to elapse.

From our findings, the entire narrative changed as soon as Ibrahim Mai Deribe was removed as Managing Director of
Cavendish Petroleum. He approached Isyaku Rabiu (a close friend, ally and a billionaire) to together they hatched this plan
to hijack the block from Cavendish Petroleum. Ibrahim did this knowing fully well that under his stewardship at Cavendish,
a lot of Nigerian companies had invested heavily in OML 110 without having to recoup any of their investments. Ibrahim
found an ally in the Minister who allowed greed to becloud his sense of judgment.

Once Ibrahim got the Minister’s backing on this illegality, he proceeded and got himself a position as Technical Adviser to
Abdul Samad Rabiu on OML 110. Together, they illegally carried out a site visit to Obe and now planning to go and
conduct a wellbore cleaning service. BUA Group got Damas Petrochemicals & Refinery Limited (a sister company) to
tender for the cleaning job. The tender for this job was submitted with a Tender Number: DAMAS/WO/2021/010. (see
below tender documents for the wellbore cleaning job at OML 110)
In all of these, it’s still not clear how Damas Petroleum secured a permit from DPR to visit the site knowing fully well that
the block stands revoked. Are we saying the Federal Government now allocates blocks to individuals secretly and without
recourse to due process? Was there a time when OML 110 was up for bidding? Was it announced to Nigerians? How
many companies participated in this bid and who is the preferred bidder? All these questions are begging for answers
from both the Mr. Timipre Sylva and Sarki Auwalu.

As concerned citizens of this great country, we call on well-meaning Nigerians to wade into this matter and compel the
minister to do the needful in line with Mr. President’s clear approval and the rule of law. We seek justice for Cavendish
Petroleum.

Chief Sylva’s action amounts to gross abuse of office, a blatant disregard for the office of Mr. President, Commander-in-
Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and an embarrassment to this government. He should be relieved of his duties
with immediate effect.

In as much as Anonymous is NOT an advocate for Cavendish Petroleum, we will stand by the company and ensure that
justice is served. Cavendish should be given an opportunity to pay up its outstanding debts and have their license
restored.

It is a shame that Ibrahim Mai Deribe could betray his family in the manner that he did. Under his role as MD/CEO of
Cavendish, a lot of companies suffered monumental losses by way of investments. Now that he is no more the Managing
Director of the company, we strongly believe the company has replaced him with a personality can run the affairs of the
company professionally. Anonymous reliably gathered that Ibrahim Mai Deribe himself took this deal to the Rabius and
got the Minister’s to play along. It is a case of illegality and fraud. We have it on record also that Ibrahim Mai Deribe
received the sum of US$1million upfront payment and rewarded with an appointment as Technical Adviser to Abdul
Samad Rabiu on OML 110.

Anonymous wish to dare the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Directors DPR, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Ibrahim Mai
Deribe and Damas Petrochemicals to counter these allegations or challenge the integrity of these documents tendered as
evidences in this publication. We call on Mr. President, The Vice President, The Senate, House of Representatives and all
Concerned Nigerians to stop Mr. Sylva and end the rot going on in the Petroleum Industry.

We believe in a corrupt-free Nigeria.

Long live Mr. President,

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Signed: Anonymous.