The present administration seems to be on its ten toes in the fight against corruption.
Since President Bola Tinubu assumed office, every ministry and agencies alike have been working round the clock to achieve that ‘Renewed Hope’ which he promised Nigerians.
We are not surprised. Oh yes we are not.
Incase you have forgotten, in the heat of the 2023 presidential election, during an interview, Tinubu had vowed to “hit the round running”.
Now it is clear President Tinubu who was assumed to be medically unfit, knew exactly what he was doing.
Upon assuming office, Tinubu noticed some rot. “Who must have done such damage to Nigeria”, Tinubu wondered.
In fact, during one of his addresses, the president was bold enough to tell Nigerians that so much damage has been done.
EFCC Vs Adoke
Now, President Tinubu through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is going after anyone or group of people engaging in any form of corrupt practices.
It was on that mandate that the EFCC charged Adoke and Abubakar Aliyu, a property developer to court.
The commission has been on Adoke’s case since 2017.
Adoke was charged with money laundering to the tune of 300 million Naira.
Although there is no mention of the OPL 245 transaction in this case.
But, the same particulars were also charged by the EFCC before Justice Abubakar Kutigi of the FCT high court in 2020.
While the EFCC admitted before Justice Inyang Ekwo that it was a mortgage that Adoke took from Unity Bank, it alleged before Justice Kutigi that the money was a bribe.
To them, it came from the sales of the oil block by Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd in 2011.
The Contradiction
This was the contradiction that Kutigi pointed, while dismissing the charges against Adoke and other defendants on March 28, 2024.
He also mocked the EFCC for wasting the court’s time for four years.
In his own ruling on Friday morning, Ekwo said the EFCC did not provide any evidence to prove the essential elements of the offence against Adoke, who was listed as first defendant.
That was how the money laundering charges against former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) Mohammed Adoke was dismissed.
Delivering a ruling on a no-case submission filed by the former AGF, Justice Inyang Ekwo, on Friday, held that the EFCC failed to establish a prima facie case against Adoke.
Also Read: Breaking: EFCC re-arraigns Adoke and Abubakar, amends charges against them
He, therefore, upheld the no-case submission and discharged and acquitted Adoke.
Justice Ekwo, however, ruled that the second defendant, Aliyu, has to open his defence.
This is because he has a case to answer on some of the charges against him.
