Mohammed Bello Adoke, the former attorney general of the federation, is the target of accusations of fraud, bribery, and conspiracy, but the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, has stated that it lacks evidence to back up these claims.
Adoke was named as the first defendant in the accusations pertaining to the OPL 245 transaction of 2011, and the EFCC responded to his no-case submission by informing the FCT high court that it would not contest the application.
As for the other defendants, Aliyu Abubakar, Rasky Gbinigie (Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd company secretary), Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd, Nigeria Agip Exploration Ltd, Shell Ultra Deep Nigeria Ltd, and Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company Ltd (SNEPCo), regarding some of the charges, the anti-graft agency also declared that it would not oppose their no-case applications.
Gbinigie, however, is facing charges from the EFCC for allegedly forging corporate records to have Mohammed Abacha’s name removed from Malabu Oil & Gas’s director list.
Recall that the EFCC accused Adoke of receiving N300 million in payment from Abubakar for the OPL 245 resolution when he brought charges against him before the FCT high court in Abuja.
Together with the other defendants, Adoke was charged with a conspiracy to “commit the offence of public servant disobeying direction of law with intent to cause injury or to save a person from punishment or property from forfeiture.”
Nonetheless, Adoke refuted all accusations, arguing that the N300 million that the EFCC categorizes as bribes was a mortgage he obtained from Unity Bank Plc in 2012.
He added that it was sent straight from the bank to the real estate developer Abubakar’s account, and that when Adoke was unable to provide his equity share in 2013, Abubakar reimbursed the money.
