BEVERLY HILLS, July 30, (THEWILL) – Former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and minister of justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, has accused his successor, Abubakar Malami, of giving false evidence against him in the P&ID case.
The Nigerian government is trying to get a $9.6 billion arbitration award upturned by proving corruption and conspiracy on the part of P&ID and past Nigerian government officials.
In his witness statement filed at High Court of Justice of England and Wales, Malami had described Adoke as corrupt, saying he was “heavily implicated in the OPL 245 case” suggesting that he colluded with the lawyer to make the country lose the P&ID arbitration.
Adoke, in a letter written by his lawyer, Paul Erokoro, and dated July 28, 2020, said the same Malami had written to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to absolve him of any wrongdoing in the OPL 245 transaction.
The former minister also said that Malami contrradicted himself in the witness statement because in one breath, he said Adoke refused to collect gratification from Supo Shasore, the Nigerian lawyer, and in another breath described Adoke as “corrupt”.
“In your letter of 20th September, 2017, addressed to the Acting Chairman of EFCC, you had explicitly advised that a review of the OPL 245 Resolution Agreement did not disclose a case against Mr. Adoke,” Erekoro wrote.
“In effect, you had, as Attorney-General, exonerated Mr. Adoke of any wrongdoing in relation to the OPL 245 settlement agreements, contrary to your evidence in the English Court.”
He also said Malami had, in the witness statement, admitted that “Adoke refused a gift of money from the lawyer that he had appointed to conduct the arbitration. Yet, instead of lauding him, you accused him of being corrupt”.
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In another instance, he said at the same time as Malami was characterising Adoke “as a corrupt villain, you were also urging his truthfulness on the English Court.
“In paragraph 11 of your Fifth Witness Statement, you relied on the truth of Mr. Adoke’s statement to the EFCC to impugn the credibility of Ms. Grace Taiga. How can Mr. Adoke be honourable and dishonourable at the same time?”
The lawyer also raised an eyebrow over Malami’s request that the US government should furnish him information on bank accounts “operated” by Adoke in the country.
He said Malami concealed information from the English court when he discovered that Adoke did not have any foreign account.
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