Adoke regains freedom in Dubai, returns to Nigeria
Posted by Godwin Tsa, Abuja | 19 December 2019 | 1,023 times
•Former Minister of Justice and AGF, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN)
Former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation
(AGF), Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, has finally been released from the custody of
Interpol, following his arrest and detention in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
(UAE).
Adoke, who was arrested by Interpol on November 11 in Dubai, when
he entered the country for medical reasons, had been in the custody of Interpol
for a period of one month and a week.
Interpol had predicated their action on an international bench
warrant for Adoke’s arrest issued on April 17, 2019 by Justice Danlami Senchi
of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Adoke had however insisted his arrest in Dubai was illegal since
the purported bench warrant had been vacated by the same court.
Having found no reason to continue to keep him, Interpol and UAE
authorities were compelled to release Adoke.
Confirming Adoke’s release, his counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN,
said he was already airborne on his way to Nigeria.
According to Ozekhome, the former AGF opted to come back to
Nigeria.
“He has been released and he is airborne to Nigeria. He has been
released because nothing was found against him, nothing incriminating was
found. So the UAE authorities and Interpol were forced to release him.
“He opted to come to Nigeria, he could have gone to any other
country of his choice. But he is on his way to Nigeria and he will arrive this
afternoon,” Ozekhome said.
Adoke fled the country in 2015 to Netherlands following the
declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari as winner of the 2015 presidential
election, and had since refused to come back home in spite of several criminal
charges filed against him by the Federal Government.
The former Minister, who was indicted for fraud to the tune of
$1.2 billion in regards to the Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 – the Malabu
Oil scandal – was in November arrested by Interpol operatives in Dubai where he
had gone to seek medical treatment.
But his lawyer, Ozekhome, claimed that Adoke was unlawfully
arrested by Interpol because the warrant of arrest earlier issued against him
by Justice Danlami Zenchi of the Federal Capital Territory High Court has been
vacated by the same judge on October 25 this year.
“I can confirm to you authoritatively that Adoke has been released
from the custody of the Interpol and will arrive Nigeria in any moment.
“He was let off the hook because nothing incriminating was found
on him and he has on his own volition opted to come back to Nigeria.
“Adoke is not extradited by the Nigerian government because there
is no reason for that. He is coming back to Nigeria to clear his name from the
alleged Malabu oil scandal.
“He is innocent of the allegations against him, Adoke has not done
anything wrong. He is already airborne and will land in Nigeria this afternoon,
today, Thursday.”
Ozekhome had last month at the Abuja High Court during the hearing
of a suit he filed against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
on November 6 said that the detention of his client is unjustifiable.
Adoke had in the suit prayed the court to strike out his name from
earlier charges filed against the Shell Production Limited and nine others by
the EFCC.
The anti-corruption commission had in 2017 filed charges against
Adoke and the others, in a case marked FCT/HC/CR/124/17, bordering on
fraudulent allocation of the Oil Prospecting Licence 245 and other forms of
offences involving the sum of about $1.2B forgery of bank documents, bribery
and corruption.
The alleged $1.2 billion scam involved the transfer of the OPL 245
purportedly from Malabu Oil and Gas Limited to Shell Nigeria Exploration
Production Co. Limited and Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited.
Justice Danladi Senchi, sitting at Jabi, Abuja, had on April 17
issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Adoke and other defendants in the
case.
The judge, however, vacated the arrest warrant on October 25
following an application made by Ozekhome before the court to that effect.
Ozekhome had informed the court that the former AGF had filed an
application seeking the removal of his name from the charge sheet.
According to him, the application was filed on November 5 but was
served on the prosecution by the court bailiff on November 27.
According to Ozekhome: “When Adoke’s warrant of arrest was vacated
on October 25, he felt he should go for medical checkup in Dubai. He was
arrested there based on the earlier court warrant of arrest.”
The senior advocate informed the court that Adoke protested his
arrest by the Interpol, which he said was against Chapter 3 of the Interpol
Article since the said warrant had been vacated by the court which initially
issued it.
He added that all decent steps to ensure that the former AGF is
released by the Interpol had been taken, including writing EFCC, the Minister
of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, the UAE authorities and Interpol, which had
not yielded any result.
Ozekhome declared that, “it is the duty of the AGF to ensure that
the rights of every Nigerian citizen are protected.”
The former Minister hinged the prayer, among others, on the fact
that he had secured a judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, against the
Attorney-General of the Federation, representing the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, in which he was completely exculpated with respect to the facts
and circumstances relating to the Malabu Oil scam.
Ozekhome argued that, having been exonerated in the Malabu Oil
scandal by Justice Binta Nyako of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court,
the inclusion of Adoke’s name as a defendant in the criminal case was
erroneous.
According to the senior advocate, EFCC concealed the April 13,
2018 judgment by Justice Nyako in which the court held that Adoke could not be
held liable for any infraction in the whole Malabu Oil saga for carrying out a
presidential directive from the FCT High Court.
This, he noted, was “a gross misstatements, misrepresentation,
concealment and suppression of material facts” by the EFCC. (Daily Sun)
Source: News Express
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