Shell signs deal to exit its full interest in Shell Nigeria Gas Group, handing the domestic gas distributor to an indigenous firm as CEO Wael Sawan refocuses on deepwater and integrated gas

The undisclosed deal hands a wholly-owned domestic gas distributor to a Nigerian private firm and marks another step in Wael Sawan’s “Simplify” reset.

Shell has signed an agreement to sell its entire interest in the Shell Nigeria Gas Group, the company behind its domestic gas distribution operations in Nigeria, to Vaaris Energy Limited, a privately held Nigerian energy company with interests across the oil and gas value chain and an existing operational footprint in the country.

Neither company disclosed the monetary value of the transaction.

Why Shell is walking away from distribution

The divestment fits the portfolio strategy of CEO Wael Sawan, who has spent his tenure pruning subsidiaries, shedding lower-return assets and narrowing the company’s attention to fewer, higher-value projects. Reporting on the deal frames the move as part of a broader repositioning that has also pulled focus back from renewables toward oil and gas projects offering stronger returns.

“Shell continues to focus on strategic Deepwater and Integrated Gas positions in Nigeria,” said Elohor Aiboni, Shell’s Country Chair in Nigeria — language that signals continuity in the upstream and LNG ambitions, and withdrawal only from the pipeline-to-customer distribution layer.

The timing: gas output expectations revised upward

The announcement follows a sharp upward revision by Shell last week to its third-quarter integrated gas production forecast, lifted to between 740,000 and 780,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from a prior estimate of 570,000 to 630,000 boepd — a reminder that the integrated gas franchise, not local distribution, is where Shell intends to press.

What changes on the ground

For industrial and commercial gas users connected to the network, the operational question is continuity: tariffs, pipeline maintenance obligations, metering, receivables discipline and the staffing and contract transfer process that typically accompanies an exit of this kind. Vaaris Energy’s existing Nigerian operating footprint suggests a buyer positioned to absorb the business without a full management rebuild, though completion terms, regulatory approvals and any transitional services arrangement between Shell and the buyer have not been made public.

The wider context

A sale of a wholly-owned domestic gas distributor to an indigenous company sits squarely inside Nigeria’s long-running project of transferring onshore and midstream assets to local capital. It reduces Shell’s exposure to the lowest-margin, highest-domestic-friction segment of its Nigerian portfolio while preserving its stake in the deepwater and LNG corridor where export-linked cash flows are earned. The deal is subject to customary regulatory approvals and completion conditions.

DSS forensic investigator Segun Kayode says $500,000 and $100,000 were set aside for EFCC officers and intermediaries; recordings allegedly name SAN AU Mustapha, Jimi Lawal and Bashir El-Rufai
 

Segun Kayode, the prosecution’s first witness, said forensic audio captured discussions on buying off EFCC officers and shielding two companies from investigation.

Kaduna, October 13, 2026 — A State Security Service forensic investigator told a Kaduna State High Court on Tuesday that former Governor Nasir El-Rufai and some associates earmarked $600,000 to settle officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and intermediaries connected to a pending investigation.

Testifying as the first prosecution witness before Justice Darius Khobo at the Kawo judicial division, Segun Kayode said the sum was split into $500,000 and $100,000, and that forensic audio recordings captured conversations involving the former governor and suspected associates. He said the conversations centred on alleged efforts to frustrate an EFCC probe into a company identified as Singularity.

Those allegedly mentioned in the recordings include Senior Advocate of Nigeria AU Mustapha (SAN), Jimi Lawal and Bashir El-Rufai. According to Kayode, Mustapha and Lawal were directed to meet one Ahmadu Sule to obtain a template earlier used to liquidate another company, with plans to apply a similar process to Singularity in Nigeria and Mauritius, where the firm was reportedly under investigation by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit. The investigator said the tapes also contained discussions on preventing the EFCC from investigating IHS, which he noted is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The defence fight over the witness

El-Rufai’s lead counsel, Paul Erokoro (SAN), objected, arguing Kayode’s name and summary of evidence were absent from the prosecution’s proof of evidence, and invoking Section 210 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) 2017, contending the subpoena should have been served on the defence. ICPC counsel Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN) countered that Kayode was a subpoenaed witness — the subpoena issued and signed by the court on June 30, 2026 — and that the omission did not render his testimony inadmissible, since cross-examination remained available.

Justice Khobo acknowledged the gap in the proof of evidence but held the records showed the witness was duly subpoenaed, and overruled the objection, directing Kayode to proceed. When Kayode later handed a hard copy of his findings to the court clerk — admitted as Exhibit One — the defence complained it had not been served in time to study it. The judge ruled the defence could obtain a certified true copy for examination.

Eight hours, two of them on tape

Proceedings ran from 12:26 p.m. to 8:18 p.m., roughly two hours consumed by playing the recorded conversations. The case was adjourned to November 30 and December 1, 2026 for cross-examination, by agreement of both sides.

The wider case

El-Rufai arrived at the court premises about 11:50 a.m. ahead of the noon hearing amid tight security, accompanied by African Democratic Congress Kaduna governorship candidate Isa Ashiru. His appearance followed an order directing the ICPC to produce him; the previous sitting had been adjourned on Monday after he was absent, with information that he sought access to his personal physician to review medical test results.

The resumed hearing came days after the Court of Appeal in Kaduna, in a judgment delivered October 9, dismissed El-Rufai’s appeal against the refusal of bail, holding he had not established grounds to warrant interference.

The former governor has been in ICPC custody since February 18, 2026, over allegations of financial misconduct tied to his 2015–2023 administration. A Kaduna State House of Assembly petition alleges the diversion and mismanagement of more than N423 billion in public funds. He faces multiple suits spanning money laundering, abuse of office and fraud before different courts.

El-Rufai has denied all wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty. The allegations remain subject to judicial determination, and he is presumed innocent under the Constitution.