Nigeria on Wednesday expressed disappointment over a Milan court’s acquittal of energy companies, Eni and Royal Dutch Shell along with a series of past and present managers including Eni Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi in the oil industry’s biggest corruption scandal.
It said it would consider its position once it had read the written judgment.
“The Federal Republic of Nigeria will continue to hold those responsible for the OPL 245 fraud accountable, not only to ensure the people of Nigeria benefit from this valuable resource, but also to make clear its commitment to rooting out corruption in all of its forms,” said a spokesman for the Nigerian government based in London.
The sentence, read out in court by Judge Marco Tremolada, comes more than three years after the trial first began and after a total of 74 hearings. He said the companies and defendants had been acquitted as there was no case to answer.
