Former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, has regained his freedom from the International Police, (Interpol) after more than one month in their custody in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Counsel to Adoke, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, confirmed his release in a statement on Thursday.
He also disclosed that the former AGF was already on his way back to Nigeria.
Recall that Adoke was arrested by Interpol on Nov. 11 in Dubai immediately he entered the country to for medical treatment.
Interpol had claimed that their action was based on an international bench warrant for Adoke’s arrest issued on April 17 by Justice Danladi Senchi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
However, Adoke on his part insisted his arrest was illegal as the warrant for his arrest had been vacated by the same court.
Ozekhome explained that Adoke chose to return to Nigeria to clear his name in the alleged fraud in the Malabu Oil deal.
The statement said:“He has been released and he is airborne to Nigeria. He has been released because nothing was found against him, nothing incriminating was found. So the UAE authorities and Interpol were forced to release him.
“He is coming on his own volition, he was not extradited, the Federal Government could not extradite him and would even have no reason to arrest him on his arrival because the order for his arrest has been set aside by Senchi on Oct. 25.”
Adoke’s extradition was faced with some huddles following failure of the Federal Government to communicate with Interpol and the authorities in Dubai on the order setting aside the bench warrant for his arrest.
Senchi had on April 17 issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Adoke and other defendants in the case but vacated it on October 25 following an application made by Ozekhome to that effect.
READ ALSO: Adoke Writes Malami, INTERPOL, Demands Release From Detention
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had in 2017 filed charges against Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company Limited and 10 others, including Adoke and Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited.
EFCC in the suit marked FCT/HC/CR/124/17, accused the defendants of fraudulently allocating Oil Prospecting Licence 245 otherwise known as Malabu Oil.
They were also accused of other offences involving the sum of about 1.2 billion dollars forgery of bank documents, bribery and corruption.
Already Zenchi has commenced hearing in Adoke’s motion seeking the removal of his name from the Malabu Oil scam trial.
Adoke had in a motion filed by Ozekhome sought an order of the court striking out his name as a defendant in the case.
His request was predicated on the grounds that he had secured a judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, against the Attorney-General of the Federation, wherein he was completely exculpated with respect to the facts and circumstances relating to the scandal.
Ozekhome argued that having been exonerated in the Malabu Oil scandal by Justice Binta Nyako of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, the inclusion of Adoke’s name as a defendant in the criminal case was erroneous.
He claimed among others that EFCC concealed the April 13, 2018 judgment by Justice Nyako in which the court held that Adoke could not be held liable for any infraction in the whole Malabu Oil saga for carrying out a presidential directive from the FCT High Court.
This, he noted is “a gross miss-statement, mis-representation, concealment and suppression of material facts” by the EFCC.
NAN
