The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr.
Abubakar Malami, has not received any request from the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission to commence extradition proceedings against his predecessor,
Mr. Mohammed Adoke, a source confirmed to our correspondent on Friday.
Adoke, who has been outside the country since last year, refused to honour
an invitation by the anti-graft agency to answer questions about his roles in
the $2bn Malabu oil deal.
Only the AGF office can initiate extradition proceedings against any
person who is abroad but being wanted in Nigeria or vice-versa.
Many had thought that the mutual legal assistance Nigeria recently signed
with some countries were targeted at some former government officials, such
Adoke, who is being sought by the EFCC for questioning.
The former minister confirmed his invitation by the EFCC in his widely
reported letter, dated December 31, 2015 and addressed to the Vice President,
Yemi Osinbajo.
Adoke stated that three weeks before writing the letter to the Vice
President, the Director of Public
Prosecutions of the Federation informed him that the Federal Ministry of
Justice received a letter from the EFCC inviting him (Adoke) to its office for
an interview on the Malabu Oil Transaction with Shell/ENI.
He said he had asked for the rescheduling of the said EFCC interview for
December 28, 2015 to enable him to conclude his semester examinations at the
University of Leiden, in the Netherlands, where he said he was pursuing an
Advanced LL.M Degree in Public International Law.
He explained in the letter, in which he maintained his innocence on the
roles he played in the Malabu oil deal, that he later decided not to honour the
invitation by the EFCC because he realised it was allegedly designed to
humiliate him.
A credible source in the office of the AGF told our correspondent on
Sunday that the minister had not received any request for assistance on how to
compel his predecessor to appear before the EFCC for questioning.
The source said, “Yes, the AGF has a supervisory role on the EFCC but will
not unduly interfere with the agencies’ work.
“The EFCC has the power to make anybody answer questions with respect to
an investigation and the AGF is always ready to render assistance to the
commission where necessary. But the EFCC has not made any request to the AGF as
far as the case of the former minister (Adoke) is concerned.
“If the AGF receives any of such requests, he will be willing to grant
it.”
When contacted by our correspondent on Tuesday, EFCC’s spokesperson, Mr.
Wilson Uwujaren, promised to find out details about the plan of the anti-graft
agency in response to Adoke’s refusal to
honour the invitation for questioning.
He promised to give a feedback to our correspondent but that did not
happen as of the time of filing this report about 6pm on Sunday.
Adoke was invited by the anti-graft agency to explain his roles in the
decision to settle out of court between the parties involved in the Oil
Prospecting Licence 245 deal which led to the Federal Government being paid
only $210m out of the $2bn.
The EFCC wants Adoke to explain how huge sums of money were paid to
certain individuals and groups named in the deal.
Maintaining his innocence, Adoke had in his letter to the Vice President,
referred to some online publications, which he said indicated that the
investigation into the Malabu deal was allegedly orchestrated to malign him.
The letter had read in part, “It is apparent from these publications that
the intention is not necessarily the clarifications sought by the EFCC, but a
carefully orchestrated plan for my assured unjustified persecution, humiliation
and disgrace by a known group with interest in the Malabu matter that are
aggrieved over my official role in the resolution of the case.
“The said group has now joined forces with those desperate to malign me by
using the present investigation by the EFCC to humiliate my person. My refusal
to take a particular position they had sought and impressed upon me after the
resolution of the matter was concluded is the root of all this blackmail.
“Your Excellency, I make bold to state that any responsible Attorney
General of the Federation would have done what I did to safeguard the interest
of the country and avoid a liability that potentially stood against the
country.”
Source: PUNCH.
0 comments :
Post a Comment