Mohammed Bello Adoke, former
attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice, has accused
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of wasting taxpayers’ money
over his trial out of “unadulterated mischief”.
He also denied absconding from
Nigeria to avoid trial over the OPL 245/Malabu affair, arguing that he left the
country in June 2015 — five months before Ibrahim Magu “who is being
manipulated to fight me” was made acting EFCC chairman.
Adoke was reacting to a press
statement issued by the EFCC on Tuesday in which the anti-graft agency denied
that its case against the former AGF was suffering for lack of evidence.
He asked the EFCC to do the
“honourable thing” by withdrawing its case against him at the federal high
court in Abuja because of the “damning revelations” coming from the ongoing
trial of Shell and ENI over the OPL 245 affair in Italy.
Adoke said: “The ongoing trial of
Shell and ENI officials in Italy has exposed the lies that EFCC has been
cooking up against me. Mr. Ednan Tofik ogly Agaev, a former Russian ambassador,
said in court that he mentioned my name as one of those who benefited from the
OPL 245 deal because of pressure from the FBI. He said the FBI interview cannot
be used against him in court. That is an eye-opener for those who are
interested in justice.
“A few days later, Mr. Vincenzo
Armanna, former ENI manager, told the same court that I confronted ENI
officials that if any one gave bribe, they would be arrested and prosecuted.
These statements were made in the open court and reported by the media
globally. Yet the same EFCC, in a strange press release on Thursday, said the
statements in the Italian court are of no relevance to the criminal charge
against me in Nigeria. Ironically, the EFCC had used the same case in Italy as
evidence that my trial in Nigeria should continue contrary to the advice of the
Office of the AGF. Suddenly, the trial in Italy is of no relevance again
because it does not fit into their predetermined agenda against me.”
He described EFCC’s claim that he
abused his office in granting OPL 245 to Shell and ENI as “ridiculous,
ill-informed and full of ignorance”.
“OPL 245 was not even awarded to
Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd by President Goodluck Jonathan, under whose
administration I served as Attorney-General. It was awarded by Gen. Sani Abacha
in 1998. It was revoked by former President Olusegun Obasanjo who later decided
to return the oil block to Malabu after an out-of-court settlement. The only
thing I did as AGF was to advise President Jonathan that legally speaking, the
Consent Judgement reached by Obasanjo was valid and subsisting and should be
respected,” Adoke said.
“At the time, Shell was making an
arbitral claim of $2 billion against Nigeria over President Obasanjo’s decision
to return the oil block to Malabu in 2006. Ordinarily, I should be commended
for helping my country avoid such a huge fine. Nevertheless, it is nothing but
unadulterated mischief by the EFCC to say I am being tried for granting an oil
block to Malabu. Even a primary school pupil knows that the Attorney-General
does not award oil blocks. All oil blocks are awarded by the President on the
advice of the Ministry of Petroleum. It is part of the evil agenda and vendetta
against me that I would be accused of awarding an oil block, as the EFCC
shamelessly claimed in their bizarre press release.
“JP Morgan, which made the
payments to Malabu, did not mention by name in court as one of those who
authorised the payment. These are now public documents. I was not a signatory
to the account. I had no powers to order payments. All I gave was legal advice
on the letters of the Resolution Agreement, but EFCC’s puppet masters were so
desperate to come after me that they painted me as corrupt and attributed all
the powers I didn’t have to me. The Federal High Court under the Hon. Justice
Binta Nyako ruled that I was not liable for carrying out lawful presidential
orders, but the EFCC has now assumed the role of interpreting the court
judgment as it suits their whims and caprices, even openly showing absolute
disrespect for the office of the AGF.”
Adoke said it is “shameful that
vultures have taken over the system and are now lording it over the
constitution” in a democracy that thrives on law and order.
“How can EFCC say I absconded to
Europe? I was already out of the country studying at the University of Leiden
in the Netherlands when the persecution started, so how can they say I ran
away? Was there any pending case against me? I left Nigeria in June 2015 for
further studies. Mr. Ibrahim Magu, who is being manipulated to fight me,
assumed office in November 2015. How then could I have run away from him and
his collaborators five months ahead? Did I foreknow that my traducers would put
their stooge as EFCC Chairman?” he said.
“The most ridiculous aspect of
this joke is that the EFCC case of money laundering filed against me over a
mortgage account I never operated was not about Malabu. Nigerians have been
given the impression by the EFCC spin masters that I was charged to court for
money laundering over OPL 245 and Malabu. In the real sense, nowhere did EFCC
mention Malabu or OPL 245 in the court papers. It was ‘wuruwuru’ to the answer.
Their case has crumbled and they know it but they have become so reckless that
they are not ready to stop wasting tax payers money on frivolous court cases. I
will come home to defend myself after attending to my health. There are no
questions about that.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com