Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), has disclosed that the recent discharge and acquittal by the FCT High Court in Abuja on OPL 245 matter has vindicated his innocence over any alleged wrongdoing in Malabu case.
Justice Abubakar Kutigi had in his ruling on March 28, 2024, dismissed the charges of fraud, bribery and conspiracy filed against Adoke and other six defendants by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Speaking with select journalists in Abuja at the weekend, Adoke said he followed due process on issues arising from OPL 245, saying that he did not commit any wrongdoing in his role as the then AGF and Minister of Justice.
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He said, “First of all, I wish to thank the Almighty Allah for sustaining me throughout the years of court proceedings in Malabu case.
“I also want to thank my family, friends, associates and well wishers for their wonderful support and solidarity during the period.
“ For the avoidance doubt and with high sense of responsibility, I did not commit any wrongdoing over OPL 245 matter.
“I’m happy that the court has through its discharge and acquittal, vindicated my innocence in Malabu case
“Without prejudice to further action by any of the concerned parties, I sincerely believe that the supremacy of the law will prevail against any fabrication or manipulation of what happened during my tenure.
“As the then Attorney-General of Federation and Minister of Justice, I gave my honest legal advice to the then President of Nigeria and I still stand by the legal opinions.”
It is instructive to note that Justice Kutigi had in his ruling on the “no case” submission by Adoke and six other defendants, held that the EFCC failed to prove its charges of fraud, bribery, money laundering and further held that Adoke and defendants had no case to answer.
The judge further held that the allegation of illegal tax waivers granted to Shell and Eni was not corroborated by the Federal Inland Revenue Service or any authority.
Regarding the alleged N300 million bribe said to have been given to Adoke by Aliyu Abubakar (one of the defendants in the case), the judge held that the EFCC did not provide the necessary evidence to prove its case.
Justice Kutigi consequently discharged and acquitted Adoke and other six defendants on all the counts.
The EFCC had charged Adoke and other six defendants before the FCT High Court in Abuja on January 15, 2020, along with Aliyu Abubakar, Gbinije of Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd, Nigeria Agip Exploration Ltd, Shell Ultra Deep Nigeria Ltd, and Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company Ltd (SNEPCo).
The anti-graft agency also alleged that Adoke collected a gratification of N300million from Abubakar over the OPL 245 resolution.
Adoke was also accused of conspiring with other defendants to “commit the offence of public servant disobeying direction of law with intent to cause injury or to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture”.
The former AGF was further accused of “knowingly disobeying direction of law” by allegedly “saving Shell Nigeria Ultra-Deep Limited, Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited and Shell Nigeria Exploration Company Limited from charges of taxes”.
But the former AGF Adoke denied all the allegations, insisting that he was a victim of political victimisation by former President Muhammadu Buhari on behalf of the Abacha family who felt cheated in the OPL 245 transaction.
It is also important to note that Nigeria has lost all the OPL 245 cases it filed or joined in Italy, the UK and Nigeria.
Former President Buhari had in 2015, started series of litigations against Royal Dutch Shell, Eni/Nigeria Agip Exploration (NAE), Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep (SNUD) Ltd, and Shell Nigeria Exploration Company (SNEPCO) over the allegations.
But on May 22, 2020, a United Kingdom Court declined jurisdiction in a case filed by Nigeria against Shell/SNUD and Eni asking for $1.1billion compensation.
The Italian Court had also on March 17, 2021, acquitted Shell, Eni and all the defendants of corruption charges in the $1.1 billion deal.
Another verdict came in June 2022 as Nigeria lost its $1.7 billion claim against JP Morgan Bank over the transfers of proceeds from the sale of the oil block to Malabu’s directors.
The United States Department of Justice which investigated the transaction, also announced in October 2019 that it was closing the case.
It is also note worthy that in April 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission closed investigation into the deal after it could not prove fraud or corruption in the matter.
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