A High Court of the Federal Capital Teritory (FCT), in Maitama, Abuja Friday, granted the request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to remand former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mohamed Adoke for 14 days pending investigation.
Giving the verdict on Friday, the presiding judge, Justice Othman Musa, granted an ex-parte application moved in respect of its stance by EFCC’s lawyer, Fatima Mustapha.
Blueprint reports that Adoke who has been on self-exile has pending criminal charge brought against him by the EFCC for alleged abuse of office and money laundering in respect of the granting of the Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 245 to Shell and ENI but could not be served court papers by the EFCC before now.
The anti-graft agency is prosecuting Adoke for his alleged roles in the Malabu OPL 245 controversial agreements that ceded OPL 245 to Shell and Eni who in turn paid about $1.1 billion dollars to accounts controlled by former petroleum minister, Dan Etete.
According to a statement by EFCC’s Head, Media & Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, investigations by the EFCC into the deal revealed crimes that border on conspiracy, forgery of bank documents, bribery, corruption and money laundering to the tune of over $1.2 billion against Malabu Oil and Gas Limited, Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep (SNUD), Nigeria Agip Exploration (NAE) and their officials, culminating in criminal charges against Adoke, Etete and others, which are pending at both the FCT High Court and the Federal High Court, Abuja
According to EFCC, the absence of the defendants slowed the prosecution of the criminal charges against Adoke, Etete, and four others, forcing the EFCC to obtain an arrest warrant against them on April 17, 2019.
