A former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), now faces extradition from the United Arab Emirates to Nigeria as charges and other relevant documents have been sent to Dubai where he is being held, Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) told the press on Friday.
Based on the documents sent and the allegations against him, Mr. Adoke would remain in custody, Prof. Sagay said.
He noted that the authorities of the UAE will now determine if there are serious charges against him and then trigger the implementation of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty which would see him being brought to Nigeria for trial with or without extradition proceedings.
Adoke, who has lived in exile since 2015, is wanted for his alleged role in the Malabu Oil Block (OPL 245) fraud. He continues to deny any wrongdoing.
However, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had filed charges bordering on alleged mismanagement of $1.6bn Malabu Oil cash against the former attorney-general and a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dan Etete and others.
Mr. Adoke had been put on INTERPOL’s watch-list based on the bench warrant obtained by the EFCC from a Federal High Court.
Noteworthy is that following an application by Adoke’s lawyers, Justice D.Z. Senchi on October 25, 2019, declared the warrant of his arrest “null and void and of no effect whatsoever”.
But it is presumed that the order vacating the arrest warrant was not communicated to the INTERPOL, which is why he was arrested.
Commenting on the purported failure of the Federal Government failed to communicate the fresh development to INTERPOL, Sagay said, “I heard about the matter (quashing of the arrest order) but I don’t want to comment on it. This is why we in PACAC are saying that the judiciary should be brought in and properly be informed and educated about the war against corruption.
“This is a time that the judiciary should avoid technicalities and dwell on the substance of the matter. If I were sitting at the court what I would ask myself is, ‘does this man have a case to answer?’ If that is the case, whether he has been served or not are mere technicalities which a judge ought to avoid because if he escapes, he escapes with billions of naira belonging to the country and it is the duty of a judge to see that person face justice.
“So, I think some of our senior judicial officers need to be educated about the effect of corruption on society and on the need to take action to see that corruption is fought to a standstill. They should not take decisions that will set free those who have deprived this country of development. The corruption is what pushed this country into poverty, unemployment and other issues.”
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