Adoke Asks EFCC to Drop Charges against Him
The former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to withdraw charges filed against him before the FCT High Court in Abuja in view of the revelations coming from the ongoing trial of Shell and ENI in Italy.
In a statement he issued at the weekend in response to media claims by the EFCC that it had established a prima facie case bordering on corruption against him on the OPL 245 transaction, Adoke said the in-coming Attorney-General of the Federation needs to put an end to “this joke of a trial by the EFCC” and lay the matter to rest as there is clearly no shred of evidence to convict him of wrongdoing.
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.”
In the statement issued by Mr. Tony Oriade, the acting Head, Media and Publicity of the EFCC, the agency had said Adoke abused his office in granting OPL 245 to Shell and ENI in 2011 but the former minister has described the claim as “ridiculous, ill-informed and full of ignorance” which Nigerians should treat with disdain.
But Adoke responded, saying the OPL 245 was not even awarded to Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd by President Goodluck Jonathan, under whose administration he served as AGF.
He added that the only thing he played was to advise President Jonathan that legally speaking, the Consent Judgment reached by Obasanjo should be respected since was valid and subsisting.