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Tag: Adoke

  • Reps invite Adoke over $1.092b Malabu oil deal

    Reps invite Adoke over $1.092b Malabu oil deal

    The  House of Representatives has invited Attoney-General and Justice Minister Mohammed Adoke over a letter purportedly written to a foreign organisation, Global Witness, saying that the House has cleared him of any wrong doing in the $1.092 billion Malabu Oil Deal.

    The anti- corruption organisation indicted Adoke in its request for immediate action to recover the $215million of assets being disputed by EVP and Malabu. The assets are currently been frozen by the UK High Court”.

    The House has mandated its Committee on Justice to invite Adoke to find out if its true that he wrote such a letter and also to ascertain if the letter as he claimed is from the House and what the content of the letter is.

    The committee is to report back within a week.

    Part of the letter allegedly written by Adoke reads:

    “You may wish to note that the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria had instituted a probe into the transaction and, at the end, they were satisfied that there was no infraction on the constitution or any other Nigerian law.

    “While I thank you for the concern shown in respect of the transaction, I wish to state that since the OPL 245 resolution agreement did not breach the constitution or any extant law and was approved by all relevant authorities and persons, I am therefore unable to justify the call for investigation of the officials of the Ministry of Finance or indeed any other person or authority.

    “In view of the foregoing, I wish to reiterate that the settlement relating to OPL 245 did not breach the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and/or any extant law. The transaction was completely transparent and received the approval of relevant authorities and persons.”

     

     

     

     

     

  • Adoke has corrected my mistakes – Aondoakaa

    Adoke has corrected my mistakes – Aondoakaa

    A former Attorney -General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Aondoakaa, has scored his successor Mohammed Adoke high, saying he has corrected the mistakes he made while in office.

    In a telephone interview with The Nation, Aondokaa said whatever mistakes he might have made while in office as AGF during the late president Umaru Yar’Adua’s administration had been corrected by Adoke.

    He scored Adoke high in performance and urged the people to support him as the office has enormous challenges.

    He said, “Let me say here that my successor Mohammed Adoke has done very well, the office of AGF is a huge one with several challenges. I think you remember how some people alleged that I have N400 million in a bank account in South Africa, while I have not been to South Africa. But my advice is that Nigerians should support Adoke.”

    On what he is doing after leaving the office, the former AGF said he is into rice farming and commended President Goodluck Jonathan for creating an enabling environment for local rice farmers to reap the fruit of their labour.

    “The ban on rice importation is a welcome development and let me say that Nigeria rice farmers have the capacity to produce enough for export and this has encourage them to go into more rice farming,” Aondokaa stated.

     

  • N10.2b suit: We stand by our allegations against Adoke, says Melaye

    N10.2b suit: We stand by our allegations against Adoke, says Melaye

    THE Executive Secretary of Anti-Corruption Network, Dino Melaye, yesterday said he stands by his allegations against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister for Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke.

    Adoke instituted a suit against Melaye, claiming N10.2 billion for alleged libelous publication.

    He is also seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their agents or privies from further publishing libelous stories about him.

    Melaye, a former House of Representatives member, said neither he nor his organisation has been served any court process.

    He told reporters that he is standing by his allegations against the AGF, as he waited to be formally served the court summons. The politician said his organisation would resist any form of harassment in its crusade against corruption.

    Melaye described the suit as a welcome development, adding that he has only released about 10 per cent of the evidence on alleged abuse of office against the minister.

    Melaye said: “Neither the Anti-Corruption Network nor myself, as the administrative head of the organisation, has been served any summons or court process. We are yet to be served.

    “Adoke preferred to serve the media first and carry out media stunt. We are not interested in media stunt; we are awaiting eagerly and desperately to be served.

    “In fact, if we wait till 2pm or 3pm today (Wednesday) and we are not served, we will approach the court and we will beg to be served. We are waiting for him to serve us.

    “I want to say without fear or favour that I, Otunba Dino Melaye, the Executive Secretary of Anti-Corruption Network, as well as the network, stand by everything we have published on Mohammed Bello Adoke word for word, fullstop for full stop, semi-colon for semi-colon, comma for comma; indeed, everything we have published about him as abuse of office and flagrant disregard for legal rules and regulation and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “I want to inform the public that what we released on Adoke is less than 10 per cent of what we have to release on him.

    “His going to court is a welcome development; it will further indict him and it will further expose him.

    “He tried using the Nigeria Police to institute a case of criminal libel. The police invited us and we wrote the police.”

  • Alleged corruption: I invited police to probe Melaye’s allegations against me—AGF

    Alleged corruption: I invited police to probe Melaye’s allegations against me—AGF

    The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), yesterday said he was the one who invited the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, to probe allegations of corruption levelled against him by a rights activist, Otunba Dino Melaye.

    He said President Goodluck Jonathan did not at any time direct the IG to probe his activities as a minister.

    Adoke, who made the clarifications in a statement in Abuja by his counsel, Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN), said he had nothing to hide as a public officer.

    The statement said: “We are issuing this statement on behalf of our client, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, SAN, CFR, the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

    “Following the tendentious allegations made by one Mr. Dino Melaye against the person of our client, we wrote a letter dated April 23, 2013 to the Inspector General of Police, wherein we requested the IG to cause an investigation to be carried out in respect of all the allegations made by the said Melaye.

    “We, therefore, dispute the headline in the publication of today (May 10, 2013) to the effect that: President Jonathan initiates probe of AGF Mohammed Adoke.

    “A copy of our letter to the Inspector of General Police is herewith attached. We refer to the last but one paragraph where we stated as follows:

    “Accordingly, we have our client’s instructions to request you to kindly cause an investigation to be carried into all the allegations by promptly inviting the said Otunba Dino Melaye to come and justify all the allegations he has made which we hasten to say are nothing but criminal libel.

    “The current exercise being embarked upon by the police is, therefore, at the instance of our client and not the President as being insinuated.

    “We want to place on record that this is not the first time our client will be submitting himself to a public enquiry because he has nothing to hide.

    “On a past occasion when our client submitted himself, his accusers came apologizing as they admitted that they were misled into publishing what was and is still patently false against him.

    “While our client concedes the right of every individual to freedom of speech, it is our contention that the freedom goes with a duty. It is not a licence for anyone to make any unsubstantiated allegation against any individual.

    “And this is why our client has deemed it fit to invite the police authority to look into the allegations and make appropriate findings.

    “It is, therefore, very astonishing to read that the President has initiated a probe of our client.

    “Perhaps it may be desirable at this juncture to advise the traducers of our client to seek the face of God in seeking whatever office they desire to occupy rather than engage in an ungodly act of maligning our client.”

  • Court orders IG, Adoke to pay N5million

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City has ordered the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, to pay N5million into an interest yielding account.

    The N5million was awarded against them by an Edo State High Court for the unlawful arrest and detention of David Ugolor for the killing of the Principal Secretary to Governor Adams Oshiomhole, Olaitan Oyerinde.

    Justice Helen Ogunwumiju gave the order yesterday at the hearing of the appeal filed by counsel to the Inspector General of Police, Police Force and Attorney General of the Federation, Henry Ihonde, against the high court ruling.

    Ihonde also sought for stay of execution to the decision of the lower court.

    Ugolor’s counsel Olayiwola Afolabi countered the application and described it as “legal virus.”

    Afolabi said the N5milllion ought to have been paid into an interest yielding account pending the appeal court judgment, according to rules of the court.

    Ihonde agreed to pay the money into the account and both parties agreed on stay of execution of the lower court judgment.

    The court ordered the money to be paid into the account within 60 days.

    Ugolor was arrested and detained for 42 days after Maisamari Garuba said Ugolor paid him N200,000 out of an agreed N20million to kill Oyerinde.

     

  • Oshiomhole, Adoke exchange hot words over Olaitan’s murder

    Oshiomhole, Adoke exchange hot words over Olaitan’s murder

    THERE was tension yesterday at the State House, Abuja, prior to the beginning of the National Council of State (NCS) meeting.

    Two Council members – Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke and Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole were locked in verbal war.

    It was on the investigation and prosecution of those held in connection with the murder of Oshiomhole’s Principal Private Secretary, Mr. Olaitan Oyerinde.

    Oshiomhole got angry when Adoke asked questions on the matter. It took the intervention of his colleagues to calm him down before President Goodluck Jonathan arrived at the Executive Council Chamber for the meeting.

    Fielding questions from reporters shortly after the meeting on what informed his reaction, Oshiomhole said that it was an issue that he would not want to talk about.

    But he accused the Attorney-General of trivialising the murder case of his former aide and insisted that Adoke ought to know where to direct his questions, particularly to the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in Edo State, who, he said, referred the case that ought to be handled in the state to Abuja.

    He said: “I don’t think it is an issue I want to talk about. This issue is that he was saying my Attorney General should have known what to do, that he has nothing to do with the matter and I simply asked him who referred the matter to him. Was it my Attorney General?”

    “The matter was referred to him by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police and I asked him who should know better? If the Deputy Inspector-General of Police referred a matter that he ought to have referred to the state, to the Federal Attorney-General, who is the one dragging him into the matter, who is the one politicising the matter.”

    He said the Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) who knew that the murder was committed in Edo State should also have known that the issue ought to be handled by the State Attorney-General for prosecution.

    The Governor stressed that even if someone does not like his person, his office should be respected as an elected governor of Edo State.

    He went on: “Should we assume that the DIG did not know that murder is a state offence? And if he knows it’s a state offence, why did he refer it to the federal Attorney-General, so, if there are complains, he should be to the DIG who referred the case to him. The rest you witness.

    “The point is that, I am an elected governor, he has to respect my office even if he doesn’t respect my person. In any event, we are dealing with factual issues. If a case was wrongfully referred to the federal Attorney General by the Police, who is to blame? We also complained that this matter ought to have been referred to the Edo State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) not the federal’s, because it is a state offence committed in Edo state.

    “It is like the case of a he goat. When the family is happy, its members sacrifice the he goat to celebrate, when the child is sick, the native doctor says sacrifice the he goat so that the child will be well; so head or tail, the he goat is in trouble.”

    Oshiomhole said he was disturbed that a senior official was trivialising the murder of his private secretary when the essence of governance should be to protect peoples’ lives and properties.

    He said: “My private secretary was killed and nobody seems to bother, I am doing my best to raise the issue because that is the least I owe to someone who gave his life; and someone else who does not think life is important, it is a matter to trivalise and joke about.

    “When it comes to life and death, I don’t joke. You don’t joke with life and death. The essence of governance is to protect life and property. That is fundamental. Even in poverty, people need to feel safe and secured. Nobody has a right under our constitution to take the life of another, except if it has been confirmed by a court of competent jurisdiction.

    “I was surprised that for the Attorney-General, it is something he can afford to joke with, telling me that my Attorney-General didn’t know what to do.

    On the way forward, he said: “I always tell the people that all of us are in power today, none of us will be in power tomorrow. If we leave Nigeria worse off, we will wallow in a hopeless situation. If you build it and make it safe, we will walk in freedom. But let us all know that all of us today, your next position is ex this and ex that.

    “I am always conscious of that. And therefore, let that guide our conscience and actions. Left for me, the issue of the death of any Nigerian and in particular, someone who has worked with me is not something I can compromise. Those who think they can compromise it, we leave them in the hands of God.”

    But when confronted yesterday, Adoke said: “I will not disregard his office, he is my personal friend: I have the highest respect for him, he is a governor of a state in this country but I will not join issues with him.

    “I did not trivialise his office and I have no reason to trivialise his office. He is at liberty as a governor to say whatever he wants to say but I will accord his office the highest respect and I will not join issues with him.”

    The NCS comprise the President, all former Heads of State, all former Chief Justices , President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, all governors and the Attorney-General of the federation.

    The body advises the President on the prerogative of mercy, awards of national honours, appointment of members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the National Judicial Council (NJC), the National Population Commission (NPC) and the National Population Census (NPC) issues.

    Although the issues discussed at yesterday’s meeting were not disclosed, they must have ranged from state security, Police and the killing of the seven foreigners held hostage by Islamic fundamentalist group- Ansaru,, Boko Haram , among others.

    In attendance were Governors Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Peter Obi (Anambra); Emmanuel Uduaghan(Delta); Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe); Comrade Adams Oshimhole(Edo); Liyel Imoke (Cross River) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers).

    Former Heads of States including Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Chief Ernest Shonekan also attended. Senate President David Mark and House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal were also at the meeting.

     

  • Jonathan approves Justice Archibong’s retirement

    Jonathan approves Justice Archibong’s retirement

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday approved the compulsory retirement of Justice Charles Archibong of the Federal High Court Lagos.

    According to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Muhammed Adoke, the President based his approval on the recommendation from the National Judicial Council (NJC).

    The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Aloma Mukthar, is desirous about ridding the judiciary of corrupt judges and officials in order to restore it as the “bastion of hope for the common man.”

    Last week, the NJC recommended the immediate retirement of two judges, Charles Archibong and T. D. Naron of High Court of Justice, Plateau State, having found them guilty through committees that were set up to probe allegations of judicial misconduct levelled against them.

    Speaking with State House correspondents on Monday, Muhammed Adoke, said: “This is to inform you that President Goodluck Jonathan is in receipt of a recommendation from the National Judicial Council recommending the compulsory retirement of Justice Charles Archibong and Mr. President has approved that it should take immediate effect.”

    “It is Mr. President’s belief that once we are able to cleanse the judiciary of corruption, then our fight against corruption in its entirety will take a firm root and will be on its way to success.”

     

  • Adoke confirms our worst fears

    Adoke confirms our worst fears

    The police had sneered at the figures before. They will sneer even more violently again, notwithstanding the fact that those figures were reiterated by Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. Delivering a keynote address at a “national dialogue on torture, extra-judicial killings and national security” organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Abuja, Adoke quoted a report by the Network on Police Reform indicating that some 7,198 people had been killed by policemen in four years. He added that about 2,500 of the victims were detainees. The minister also suggested that the police had relied on Police Force Order 237, which allows the police to shoot any suspect or detainee trying to escape or avoid arrest, to carry out some of these questionable killings. However, he did not suggest that all the deaths were as a result of extra-judicial killings, though he thought police methods were forcing a rethink of the criminal justice system to take away the power of prosecution from the police. His conclusion was damning. Said he: “Although these figures have been stoutly disputed by the police, even the most charitable defenders of the Force cannot deny that some dishonourable officers indeed have taken the law into their hands in the most barbaric fashion by killing suspects and innocent citizens.”

    Coincidentally, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) was also on the same day and place worrying about extra-judicial killings, which it said were dehumanising Nigerians. The NBA President, Okey Wali (SAN), put it even more pithily than the Justice minister. Said he at a roundtable organised to mark the 2012 International Human Rights Day: “When rights are serially violated, the people are apprehensive, nervous and unsure of their humanity.” No statement can be more disapproving of the law enforcement agencies’ methods. With the Justice minister associating himself very strongly with the conclusion that police malfeasance is well known and on the rise, and the NBA focusing attention on the menace undermining the criminal justice system, perhaps there is hope that the will to do something about lawless law enforcement would be summoned. The police may dispute the allegations of extra-judicial killings levelled against them as much as they like, but the truth is that it is widely known to be their culture. And no one can doubt that it was a factor in the radicalisation of the Boko Haram Islamic militants.

    Rather than continue to pretend that the problem does not exist, or needlessly debate the scale, the police should do an honest introspection if they want to become the law enforcement agency of their, and dare we say, our, dream. The Justice minister should be encouraged to work more assiduously at transferring the responsibility of prosecution of suspects to the Justice ministry. It is a step in the right direction. The notorious Police Force Order 237 should also be reformed in line with modern and civilised standards of policing. But it is not enough to reform the system and establish police rules of engagement that do not affront our humanity; it is also important that allegations of extra-judicial killings must be investigated and culprits brought to book. As the Boko Haram terror is showing, it is impossible for any society, let alone an errant Police Force, to make progress and achieve stability on the foundations of so much injustice and unfairness. As the NBA president succinctly puts it, “Denying cases of extra-judicial executions and unlawful detentions in the face of overwhelming evidence can only diminish our prestige and respect in the comity of nations.”

     

  • Police killed 7,198 in four years, says Adoke

    Police killed 7,198 in four years, says Adoke

    The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice Mohammed Adoke (SAN) yesterday said 7,198 people were killed by the police in four years.

    Quoting a report by the Network on Police Reform, Adoke said no fewer than 7198 persons were killed by the police in four years.

    He spoke at the national dialogue on torture, extra-judicial killings and national security, organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Abuja with the theme: “Human Rights Implications”.

    Delivering a keynote address, Adoke expressed concern that the police relied on “Police Force Order 237’’ to commit extra-judicial killings.

    This, he said, has led to 7198 deaths in four years of which 2500 were detainees.

    “Although these figures have been disputed by the police, even the most charitable defenders of the force cannot deny that some dishonourable officers have taken the law into their hands in the most barbaric fashion by killing suspects and innocent citizens,” he added.

    Adoke said plans were on for the Ministry of Justice to remove the power to prosecute criminal matters from the police.

    This, he noted, would limit the agency to investigation only.

    “According to a school of thought, the killings and gruesome attacks on persons that have increased in recent times and the lack of will or capacity on the part of security agencies to arrest this trend appear to fuel the incentive for self-help measures that often manifest as acute and barbaric practices.

    “There is no doubt that the rule of law has taken flight in the society which condones a situation where citizens take the law into their hands and summarily try and execute suspected felons.

    “The apparent slow pace of criminal justice system, particularly the corruption that permeates the system, has been identified as the main reason why citizens take the law into their hands.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Bar standards crashing, says AGF Adoke

    Bar standards crashing, says AGF Adoke

    The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), yesterday raised an alarm that the standard of the Bar is declining.

    He said corrupt practices and ethical problems are more pronounced at the Bar unlike in the past decades.

    He also expressed regrets that the quality of legal education being offered by some universities is poor.

    Adoke, who spoke at the 4th edition of the Alumni Reunion of the Nigerian Law School (NLS) ’88 Class at the Nike Lake Hotel, Enugu, said it was time to bring the discourse on ethics and discipline at the Bar to the front burner to purge the profession of its present decay.

    He said: “The underlining objective is to sensitise members of this noble profession to the need to uphold high ethical standards and discipline in the practice of law in the country.

    “We have for too long relegated these issues to the background to the detriment of our profession. I, therefore, believe that the time has come for us to continually and collectively interrogate issues relating to ethics and discipline at the Bar with a view to repositioning the legal profession in Nigeria.

    “A disturbing trend by which some legal practitioners now engage non-lawyers or touts to scout for briefs and enter into sharing arrangement of the legal fees must be loudly condemned as crass and ignoble.

    “Rules 3 and 4 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners (RPC) of 2007, clearly provide that a lawyer shall not share the fees of his legal services with non-lawyers, nor should a lawyer employ the use of intermediaries or aid a non-lawyer in the unauthorised practice of law.

    “As Attorney-General of the Federation, I am astonished at the manner businessmen and women now approach my office for patronage. When I question them as to the impropriety of their conduct, they often answer to the effect that it has been done before and that they had in the past secured brief, which they handed over to other lawyers to handle on their behalf.

    “The point being made is that some members of the profession now make use of intermediaries in their quest to secure briefs.”

    Speaking on a wide range of issues, the AGF decried situations where “some legal practitioners have instituted suits primarily to chalk up appearances at the Supreme Court for the purpose of elevation to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) or merely for the purpose of keeping the chambers busy.” He said this is clearly unprofessional.

    “It should be appreciated that while the rank of SAN is no doubt, justifiably sought after as a pinnacle of the legal profession, it is, therefore expected that those privileged to be elevated to silk should display the highest professional standards. The reality, however, is that there is a growing mercenary perception of the rank in popular discourse within and outside the profession.”

    He charged lawyers to adhere to the strict rules of the profession, while bemoaning the falling standard of legal education. He said, “I regret also to observe the vastly declined standard of legal education in the country. I observe this as part of a general trend in education at all tiers and across subject areas, but urge specifically for legal education that the Nigerian Bar Association should move decisively and work closely with the National Universities Commission and the Council of Legal Education to restore sanity in the system.”

    He advocated that lawyers whose disciplinary offences are pending should be excluded from holding NBA offices or the conferment with the SAN class.

    Adoke added: “It is my humble view that where a lawyer has a disciplinary case pending against him, he should be excluded from holding any office of the NBA or the conferment of the rank of SAN. The rationale for this is to prevent the lawyer from initiating frivolous applications so as to frustrate the process. However, I am not persuaded that this is desirable particularly as suspension is in fact one of the penalties under the Act. I would rather suggest that courts should be mindful of such time-wasting ploys and stand firm against delaying the process by interlocutory injunctions.”

    On his part, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, said: “I want to say that the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice should not be out for government policies and government cases alone. They have done that job very well. But the DNA of the Office of the Attorney General must change at the federal and at the state levels.

    “It must change to become the chief prosecutor of all those who violate our laws in this country. From that way I think we will not begin to see those charges that will ridicule the attempt in my view to bring criminals to justice.”