A former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), on Thursday, protested what he called deliberate false statements made against him on Wednesday by the Federal Government’s lawyer, Lucio Lucia, in the ongoing proceedings against Shell and Eni and other named individuals before the Milan Court in Italy over the OPL 245 transaction.

He, therefore, called on the Federal Government to debrief Lucia for “his embarrassing conduct, deliberate falsehood and dishonesty in a court of law.”

Adoke made his position known in a statement titled, ‘OPL 245 case: Nigeria’s lawyer contradicted FGN officials in Italian court.’

The former minister recalled that his lawyer, Femi Oboro, had on July 6, 2020 drawn the public’s attention to “the deliberate and malicious falsehoods” contained in the statements made by the Milan prosecutor in the ongoing proceedings over Malabu.

He said Lucia, while representing the interest of the Federal Government as the injured party entitled to civil compensation, had on Wednesday allegedly “reaffirmed the indictment of Mr Adoke and others in the heist” in connection with the OPL 245 Resolution Agreement.

But Adoke reiterated that his official role as AGF in the implementation of OPL 245 settlement agreement has been the subject of judicial pronouncement by the Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice Binta Nyako.

He quoted Justice Nyako as saying that his involvement in the implementation of a settlement agreement dated 30th November 30, 2006 and the eventual execution of Block 245 Malabu Resolution Agreement dated April 29, 2011 was “in furtherance of the lawful directives/approval of the President in the exercise of his executive powers.”

Adoke said, “It is clear that Mr Lucio Lucia cannot assert on behalf of the same Federal Government of Nigeria a position that is contrary to the unassailable declarations in the subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court.

“Mr Lucio Lucia also lied to the court that I was extradited from Dubai for corruption related to OPL 245, knowing fully that nothing of sort ever happened.”

Adoke called on the Federal Government to “debrief Mr Lucio Lucia for his embarrassing conduct, deliberate falsehood and dishonesty in a court of law.”

‘Malabu Oil, others violate law’

A prosecution witness, Mr Temitope Erinomo, told the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday how Malabu Oil and Gas Limited and six other companies charged with fraud in the Oil Prospecting Lease 245 transactions had allegedly violated the money laundering law.

Erinomo is the Principal Compliance Officer at the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering in the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investments.

He appeared in court on Thursday as the first prosecution witness in the case of 67 counts of money laundering involving about $800m instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against Malabu Oil, the six other companies, and a businessman, Aliyu Abubakar.

Aside Malabu Oil and Abubakar, the rest of the defendants are A-Group Construction Company Limited, Rocky Top Resources Limited, Mega Tech Engineering Limited, Novel Properties and Development Company Limited, imperial Union Limited and Carlin International Nigeria Limited.

All the defendants had pleaded not guilty to the 67 charges.

Led in evidence by EFCC’s prosecuting counsel, Bala Sanga, Erinomo said while Malabu Oil was registered as a consultancy firm, the rest of the companies allegedly with link to Abubakar, were registered to carry out construction activities.

Erinomo said in his evidence-in-chief; that considering the status of the seven firms as construction and consultancy firms, they were designated by the Ministry of Trade and Investments as Designated Non-Financial Institutions.

Erinomo explained that the DNFI firms were mandated by the Money Laundering Prohibition Act to, among others, be registered with the ministry, submit statutory reports of their activities and declare qualified transactions to the ministry and the EFCC.

He added that the firms were also required by law to put in place anti-money laundering measures, set up an internal audit to measure the effectiveness of the measures, and appoint a compliance officer from among the members of the management staff.

He said, “We searched through our registration database and report database. We find out that these companies have not made any declaration to the ministry in compliance with the Act.”

Under cross-examination by Malabu Oil’s lawyer, Mr J. A. Achimugu, Erinomo said he carried out an off-site inspection to ascertain the alleged violations by the firm.

The judge deferred the cross-examination of the witness by other defence lawyers, Mr Olalekan Ojo (SAN) and Chief Akin Olujinmi (SAN), till October 27. (The PUNCH)

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