A former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), yesterday said he did not abscond from trial, as claimed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The former AGF said he was not on the run, and that the charge against him was filed after he had travelled overseas for further studies.
Adoke said he would soon return to defend himself.
Besides, he claimed that “damning revelations” from the current trial of Shell and ENI in Italy showed that the commission has no case against him.
In a statement, the former AGF said the commission should honourably withdraw the charge.
Adoke said: “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?
“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 (speciousness) 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.”
Adoke faulted EFCC’s claim that it had established a prima facie case bordering on corruption against him on the OPL 245 transaction.
According to him, there is clearly no shred of evidence to convict him of wrongdoing.
He 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 American Federal Bureau of Investigation (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.”
EFCC, through its spokesman Tony Oriade, reportedly said Adoke abused his office in granting OPL 245 to Shell and ENI in 2011.
But, the former minister described the claim as “ridiculous, ill-informed and full of ignorance” which Nigerians should treat with disdain.
“OPL 245 was not even awarded to Malabu Oil & Gas Limited 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 Judgment reached by Obasanjo was valid and subsisting and should be respected,” Adoke said.
According to him, at that 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.
Adoke said he should be praised for helping Nigeria to avoid such a huge fine.
He said: “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 Resources. 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 its bizarre press release.
“JP Morgan, which made the payments to Malabu, did not mention my 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 was “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.
