EFCC dismisses allegations against ex-AGF, Adoke, citing ‘no evidence’

In response to accusations of fraud, bribery, and conspiracy against Mohammed Bello Adoke, the former attorney general of the federation, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, has stated that it lacks evidence.

The EFCC notified the FCT high court that it would not oppose the application in its answer to Adoke’s no-case submission. Adoke was named as the first defendant in the allegations pertaining to the OPL 245 transaction of 2011.

Aside from that, the anti-graft agency said it would not fight the other defendants’ no-case requests regarding certain of the charges, including 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).

To remove Mohammed Abacha’s name from corporate paperwork and remove his position as a director of Malabu Oil & Gas, Gbinigie is accused of forging documents, according to the EFCC.

As you may remember, the EFCC accused Adoke of receiving N300 million in payment from Abubakar for the OPL 245 resolution when he appeared before the FCT High Court in Abuja.

Adoke was charged, along with other defendants, with planning 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.”

But Adoke refuted all of the accusations, claiming that the N300 million that the EFCC labeled as bribes was actually a mortgage he obtained from Unity Bank Plc in 2012.

In 2013, when Adoke was unable to provide his equity contribution, he claimed that the money was reimbursed by property developer Abubakar, who received it directly from the bank.