The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has said that former Attorney General and Minister of Justice Mohammed Adoke, will immediately face charges of corruption leveled against him.
EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, who confirmed the arrest of Adoke on Thursday, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, told BusinessDay that what has been delaying the charges against Adoke, was because he has not been available in the country.
” Now he is available and he is with us, so the charge against him will continue immediately,” Uwujaren said.
Adoke just regained freedom from the International Police, (Interpol) after over a month in their custody in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Acting Chairman of EFCC Ibrahim Magu, and Dubai authorities have collaborated in respect of the former Attorney General over alleged corruption concerning the Malabu oil deal.
Adoke on arrival was reportedly accompanied by INTERPOL officers on Emirates Airlines Flight 785 which landed at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja at 3:45pm into the waiting hands of the officers of the EFCC.
Adoke was apprehended on November 11 in Dubai by Interpol immediately he entered the country for medication . Interpol had earlier claimed his arrest was based on an international bench warrant for Adoke’s arrest issued on April 17 by Justice Danladi Senchi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Adoke’s lawyer Mike Ozekhome, however, said the former AGF opted to come back to Nigeria to enable him to clear his name in the alleged fraud in OPL 245 otherwise known as Malabu Oil deal.
“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,” Ozekhome said.
Ozekhome added that Adoke bought his ticket himself to return to Nigeria because he believed he was innocent of the charges against him.
“ He was not extradited, the Federal Government could not extradite him and would even have no reason to arrest him on his arrival because the order for his arrest has been set aside by Senchi on Oct. 25,” Ozekhome said in a statement on Thursday.
Adoke’s extradition faced serious challenges over what some analysts described as failure of the Federal Government to communicate with Interpol and the authorities in Dubai on the order setting aside the bench warrant for his arrest.
Senchi had on April 17 issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Adoke and other defendants in the case but set it aside on October 25 because of an application Ozekhome made seeking to vacate the arrest warrant.
The EFCC had in 2017 slammed charges against Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company Limited and 10 others, including Adoke and Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited.
EFCC’s suit marked FCT/HC/CR/124/17, said the defendants had allocated Oil Prospecting Licence 245 popularly known as Malabu Oil through through fraudulent means. They were also said to have committed other corrupt practices involving the sum of about $1.2 billion , which involved alleged forgery of bank documents and bribery.
Innocent Odoh, Abuja
