Tuesday 23 February 2016

MALABU OIL DEAL: Atiku, Abacha family behind my ordeal - Adoke

Former Attorney-Gener­al of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mo­hammed Adoke (SAN), has taken up some prominent Ni­gerians he alleged to be sponsor­ing the media campaign against him in the controversial Malabu oil deal saga.
In a letter he wrote to the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osi­nbajo, on the matter, Adoke fin­gered former Vice President Ati­ku Abubakar and the family of late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, as the brains behind his ordeal in the ongoing probe of the Malabu oil deal.

The AUTHORITY recalls that the Federal Government recent­ly expressed its readiness to reo­pen investigations into the alleged shady transactions that trailed the resolution of the dispute between Shell Ultra Deep Nigeria Limited, the Federal Government and Ma­labu Oil and Gas Limited over oil licences.
When contacted by The AU­THORITY on Adoke’s allegation, Atiku, through his Media Advis­er, Mazi Paul Ibe, said that he had no hand in the travails of the for­mer Attorney-General and Min­ister of Justice.
Atiku, who was Nigeria’s Vice President between 1999 and 2007, urged Adoke and his co-travellers to rather clear their names instead of looking for whom to blame.
The Turaki Adamawa said: “The erstwhile Attorney-General and others so invited should fo­cus on clearing their names in­stead of dragging innocent peo­ple into the fray.”
While giving an account of his role in the said transaction in the terse letter, Adoke alleged that agents of the country’s for­mer leaders were out to smear his name because he declined to use his office as AGF to carry out their biddings in the said oil deal.
Adoke disclosed that the Aba­cha family and one Lawal Abba, acting for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the former Vice President, were behind the scheme to smear his name with allegations of bribery and corruption, while enlisting the services of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to humiliate him.
The letter reads in part: “My refusal to take a particular po­sition they had sought and im­pressed upon me after the resolu­tion of the matter was concluded is the root of all this blackmail.
“They claim that they were shareholders in Malabu Oil & Gas Limited and had been short-changed by the main sharehold­er of the company, and that I had refused to use my official position as Attorney-General of the Feder­ation to help them get their dues from the main shareholder.”
The former AGF, while de­scribing the assertions levelled against him as preposterous, said he was also alleged to have been involved in the Halliburton brib­ery scandal when the said scandal predated his tenure as AGF.
He said: “It will be recalled that it was during my tenure that the Office of the Attorney-Gen­eral of the Federation in collab­oration with the office of the Na­tional Security Adviser (NSA) under the leadership of General Aliyu Gusau and the EFCC pro­ceeded against the companies that were involved in the bribery scan­dal and got them to pay repara­tions for ‘reputational damage’ to the country totalling almost $180 million, even when by the penal sanctions contained in our laws, the companies could only have paid pittance. The records are there to show what was achieved and that the monies were paid into the Federal Government ac­counts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“It is apparent from these publications that the intention is not necessarily the clarifications sought by the EFCC but a care­fully orchestrated plan for my as­sured unjustified persecution, hu­miliation and disgrace by a known group with interest in the Mala­bu matter that are aggrieved over my official role in the resolution of the case. The said group has now joined forces with those desper­ate to malign me by using the pre­sent investigation by the EFCC to humiliate my person. My refusal to take a particular position they had sought and impressed upon me after the resolution of the mat­ter was concluded is the root of all this blackmail,” he said.
He further averred that any responsible AGF would have done what he did in the interest of the nation, having made the com­panies that were involved in the bribery scandal and got them to pay reparations for ‘reputational damage’ to the country totalling almost $180 Million even when by the penal sanctions contained in the country’s laws, the compa­nies could only have paid pittance.
Adoke equally revealed that the office of the current AGF, Abubakar Malami (SAN) had re­cently informed him of an EFCC invitation letter, requesting him for an interview in respect of the Malabu oil scandal, which he could not immediately hon­our due to his studies outside the shores of the country.
The erstwhile AGF however, said he found the anti-graft agen­cies invitation rather “unconven­tional and mischievous” as he had acted in official capacity as AGF and the EFCC could have gotten access to records of the transac­tions as government is a contin­uum.
He submitted: “I discharged my duties as the Chief Law Offic­er of the Federation with convic­tion, integrity and candour, striv­ing at all times to protect national interest. While I acknowledge that I am human and not infallible, I remain very proud of my record of service as Attorney-General of the Federation.”



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