Browsing: Mohammed Adoke

Adoke, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, (SAN), was Attorney-General and Minister of Justice under President Goodluck Jonathan for five years from 2010 until 2015. Since leaving office, he has endured exile, detention, and a failed criminal trial in connection with the infamous Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 245 granted in April 1998 by General Abacha to the shadowy Malabu Oil and Gas Limited.

In Nigeria, politics is more important than the law. Cases are delayed and you could be on trial for years even when you are innocent. Once you are marked out by the state as an adversary, the evidence does not matter. In December 2016, Mohammed Bello Adoke and eight others were formally charged at the Federal High Court, Abuja in respect of the OPL 245 transaction. His name was mentioned in two out of the nine charges, bordering on conspiracy, aiding and abetting, and money laundering.