EFCC drops charges against ex-AGF Adoke over OPL 245 deal
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has admitted that it has no evidence to back up its allegations of fraud, bribery and conspiracy against Mohammed Bello Adoke, the former attorney-general of the federation, in relation to the OPL 245 oil block deal.
The anti-graft agency told the FCT high court that it would not contest the no-case submission filed by Adoke and other defendants, including Aliyu Abubakar, Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd, Nigeria Agip Exploration Ltd, Shell Ultra Deep Nigeria Ltd, and Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company Ltd (SNEPCo).
The only exception was Rasky Gbinigie, the company secretary of Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd, who was accused of forging company documents to remove Mohammed Abacha, the son of the late dictator Sani Abacha, as a director.
The EFCC had accused Adoke of receiving N300 million from Abubakar as a bribe for facilitating the OPL 245 deal, which involved the sale of the oil block by Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd to Shell and Eni for $1.1 billion in 2011.
Adoke denied the charges, saying that the N300 million was a loan from Unity Bank Plc, which was transferred to Abubakar’s account as payment for a property he wanted to buy. He said he later returned the money to Abubakar when he could not afford the property, which was then sold to the CBN.
The EFCC also filed another case against Adoke and Abubakar at the federal high court in Abuja, alleging money laundering of $2 million. However, an EFCC witness confirmed that the money was the same as the loan from Unity Bank Plc.
Adoke claimed that he was being persecuted by the former president Muhammadu Buhari on behalf of the Abacha family, who felt aggrieved by the OPL 245 deal.
The OPL 245 deal has been mired in controversy since 1998, when the military regime of Sani Abacha awarded the oil block to Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd, which was reportedly owned by his son Mohammed and the then petroleum minister Dan Etete.
The licence was revoked by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001 and given to Shell without a public bid. Malabu sued the government and regained the licence in 2006 after an out-of-court settlement.
The dispute seemed to end in 2010, when President Goodluck Jonathan approved the sale of the oil block by Malabu to Shell and Eni for $1.1 billion, with the federal government receiving $210 million as signature bonus.
However, activists alleged that the deal was corrupt and that the money was used to bribe government officials.
The Buhari administration initiated several lawsuits against Shell, Eni, and other parties involved in the deal in 2015.
