Nigeria’s former attorney-general Mohammed Bello Adoke, has been held in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, by Intepol following a warrant of arrest by an Abuja court, though it had been vacated.
An Abuja high court had issued a warrant of arrest against Adoke and four others on April 17, 2019 based on the request of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the controversial OPL 245 deal executed by the federal government in 2011.
But on the request of Adoke’s lawyers, the court, presided over by D. Z. Senchi, vacated the warrant on October 25, 2019, declaring it “null and void and of no effect whatsoever”.
While the first order was sent to Interpol by the Nigerian police, the vacating order was not.
Adoke had reportedly arrived Dubai on Monday, November 11, for a scheduled medical check-up, was quizzed by the Interpol and then taken into custody.
It is understood that the Interpol are asking for a certified copy of the vacating order before they can release him and allow him to proceed for his medicals.
Mr. Adoke has been on self-exile since 2015, but says he did no wrong in the OPL 245 affair.
He alleges that the EFCC wants to humiliate him.
It is yet unclear from where the former AG flew into Dubai. Rwanda and China have been mentioned.
cpcnews.org 