FORMER Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, has insisted that the controversial Malabu oil block agreement was endorsed by the previous administrations of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan.
Adoke, in a statement made available to newsmen, which was written to the current Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, said “I believe it is your responsibility to explain to the public who are being sold a fiction that the transaction started from President Olusegun Obasanjo, under whose administration the terms of settlement were brokered with Chief Bayo Ojo.
“Ojo as the then Attorney-General executed the terms of settlement before the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan, who approved the final implementation of the terms of settlement and my humble self who executed the resolution agreements. This is more so as the settlement and its implementation were situated in the Federal Ministry of Justice.
“Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation, your response is crucial because it has become glaring that the actions of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in respect of the transaction are not in the national interest; but rather in furtherance of a plot to serve the interests of some powerful families and individuals who are aggrieved by my refusal to accede to their requests to compel Malabu to pay them certain sums from the proceeds of its divestment in OPL 245, and the subsequent re-allocation of the Block to Shell/ENI.
“You will recall that I had, on several occasions, asserted this fact. I am, therefore, surprised that a national institution is being used to further the interest of individuals whose claim or shareholding in Malabu remains shady and prefer to engage proxies to fight their battles.”
On the recent charges filed against him and others by the anti-corruption agency, Adoke said the allegations of bribe taking revealed that either the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and that of the EFCC were not working in harmony or that something sinister was going on.
“Having given you the benefit of the doubt that you would not sponsor deliberate falsehood against me, my suspicion is that there is an orchestrated plot by the EFCC to deliberately impugn a transaction that has been scrutinised and approved by at least three past presidents and three Attorney Generals; drag my name in the mud and paint me with the tar of corruption in order to attract public odium,” he said.
He urged Malami to speak on the matter, for Nigerians to know “whether I acted mala fide or abused my office in the entire transaction leading to the final implementation of the settlement. Nigerians need to know whether your predecessors in office from 2006 to May 2015 acted in the national interest when they brokered and implemented the settlement.”
Adoke said if, after the investigation, Malami found him to have abused his office or breached the oath of office, “please do not hesitate to bring me to justice. However, if it is the contrary, as I strongly believe, I deserve protection from these unwarranted attacks and dehumanising treatment that I am being subjected to, merely because I chose to serve my fatherland.”
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