Wale Igbintade
Former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), has said despite his ordeal in the hands of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), his faith in Nigeria remains unshaken.
Recall that Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja had on Friday, upheld the “no case” submission by Adoke on charges of money laundering filed against him by the anti-graft commission.
The EFCC had charged Adoke and Aliyu Abubakar, a property developer in 2017, alleging money laundering to the tune of N300 million.
Justice Ekwo said the EFCC did not provide any evidence to prove the essential elements of the offence against Adoke, who was listed as the first defendant.
Similarly, the same particulars of the case were also filed against the former AGF, Abubakar, and some other defendants before Justice Abubakar Kutigi, of the FCT High Court in 2020.
However, on March 28, 2024, Kutigi pointed out the contradiction, while dismissing the charges against Adoke and other defendants, chiding the EFCC for wasting the court’s time for four years.
Both charges were premised on allegations that Adoke received money as a bribe from the sale of the OPL 245 oil block by Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd in 2011.
Applauding the judgments in a statement at the weekend, Adoke described them as a vindication for him.
He said that he leaves all those who contributed to his ordeal to their conscience and the judgment of posterity.
He said his faith in the Nigeria project is not misplaced or shaken, saying the two charges filed at separate courts on the same facts were intended “to annoy and cause me maximum discomfort and expense”.
The former AGF said he did no wrong by carrying out the President’s lawful directives and that he could, therefore, not be held personally liable for discharging his responsibilities.
He described his trial as “a political witch hunt and scapegoatism,” as the EFCC needed to hang corruption charges on his neck as a way of sustaining the federal government’s claims against the implementation of the Settlement Agreement in foreign jurisdictions such as Milan- Italy, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
Speaking on the court’s ruling, Adoke said: “It will be recalled that the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Coram Abubakar Kutigi, J, had on Thursday, March 28, 2024, similarly upheld the no-case submission I made to the charges filed against me. The EFCC had, in their wisdom and the exercise of their prosecutorial powers, filed charges on the same facts in different courts to annoy and cause me maximum discomfort and expense.
“Nigerians will recall that I served the country in the exalted position of Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice from April 2010 to May 29, 2015. During that period, I received Presidential Approval/Directive to implement the subsisting 2006 Settlement Agreement between the FGN (Federal Government of Nigeria) and Malabu, which at the material time had been reduced into a consent judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
“When the EFCC, at the instigation of some powerful persons in the country, ostensibly because of the enabling political environment, began their shenanigans sometime in 2015, I took out an Originating Summons against the FGN praying the Federal High Court, Abuja, to determine whether I, acting as the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice in the Government of the Federation could be held personally liable for carrying out or implementing the Presidential Approvals/Directives of the President in exercise his powers under section 5 and 148 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
“The Federal High Court, Abuja, Coram, Binta Nyako, J declared in essence that I did no wrong by carrying out the President’s lawful directives and that I could, therefore, not be held personally liable for discharging my responsibilities.
“Nigerians will also recall that when the OPL 245 Settlement Agreement came under the searchlight of the EFCC in 2017, the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), had in his reasoned legal opinion to the EFCC confirmed that he had reviewed the Settlement Agreement and could not find any illegality in the transaction.
“The Honourable Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, also wrote an opinion to the president through the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, where he opined in essence that the transaction was for the benefit of the country as it would enable the oil block to be developed for the benefit of the country.
“Despite these exonerating opinions and the subsisting judgment of the FHC, Abuja, the EFCC proceeded to charge me and other entities for corruption, money laundering, and other sundry offences. I had no option but to submit myself to the legal process. It has been a harrowing experience that has lasted for over nine years due mainly to the antics of the prosecution, which hurriedly filed charges against me to satisfy some narrow political interests but became reluctant to prove their case for want of evidence.
“The trial became an object of a political witch hunt and scapegoatism, as the EFCC needed to hang corruption charges on my neck as a way of sustaining FGN’s claims against the implementation of the Settlement Agreement in foreign jurisdictions such as Milan- Italy, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
“Predictably, these foreign jurisdictions examined the OPL 245 transaction and my role in implementing the Settlement Agreement and, in their reasoned judgments, held that there were no infractions of a criminal nature. Consequently, the charges in Milan-Italy were quashed, the United States Department of Justice found no criminality in the transaction, and the United Kingdom Commercial Court, which interestingly in affirming the legality of the transaction, commended the role I played in the implementation of the agreement.
