A global corruption watchdog, Global Witness, has confirmed that the Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, sent it a letter claiming the House of Representatives cleared him of all infraction[s] of the Constitution or any other Nigerian law relating to the role he played in the fraudulent transfer of about N151 billion to a convicted felon in the murky Malabu Oil deal.
In a statement accompanied by a copy of the letter released on the organisation’s website, Wednesday, U.K.-based Global Witness said it decided to go public on the issue in the “interest of transparency and accuracy” since content of the letter in question has been reported in the media.
PREMIUM TIMES had exclusively published the content of the letter which showed Mr. Adoke, using Nigeria’s letterhead, to lie to the U.K. organisation.
According to Global Witness, Mr. Adoke wrote the letter in response to the organisation’s May 1, 2013 letter to the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala requesting amongst other matters that she investigates the role of Finance Ministry officials in requesting transfers of funds received from the sale of OPL 245, as the controversial oil bloc is called.
Global Witness said the Attorney General himself signed the letter, which was dated May 20, 2013.
In a copy of the letter published by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr. Adoke also claimed that the role of the Federal Government in transferring money to Malabu Oil and Gas, a fraudulent company established in 1998 to illegally appropriate the lucrative oil bloc, “did not breach the constitution or any extant law and was approved by all relevant authorities and persons.
”For the above reason, Mr. Adoke said, he is “unable to justify the call for the investigation of the officials of the Ministry of Finance or indeed any person or authority.”
With the release of this correspondence by Global Witness, the stack of lies and cover-ups, apparently built by Mr. Adoke to cover his dubious involvement in the Malabu Oil deal is beginning to crumble has he’s having problems convincing Nigerians that deal was done in good faith.
A report recently submitted by the House committee that investigated the deal is yet to be debated on the floor of the House.
But really, are we surprised?
- Excerpts from Premium Times
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