Meanwhile, a Federal Capital Territory High Court, sitting in Jabi, Abuja Wednesday ordered the arrest of former Minister of Petroleum, Chief Dan Etete and former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Bello Adoke SAN, both of whom were implicated in Malabu oil scandal.
The order by the FCT Court presided over by Justice D.Z. Senchi followed prayers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a warrant of arrest against Etete and Adoke.
The court further ordered that the two should be arrested by the Police and International Police (INTERPOL) anywhere, including outside the jurisdiction of the court.
Also declared wanted were Raph Wetzels, Casula Roberto, Pujato Stefeno, and Burrato Sebastiano. They were due to be arraigned before Justice Senchi yesterday to face charges related to the Malabu Oil scandal but failed to show up.
The EFCC had since 2017 pressed charges against Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Co. Ltd, Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited, Eni Spa, Raph Wetzels, Casula Roberto, Pujato Stefeno, Burrato Sebastiano, Duazia Louya Etete (aka Dan Etete), Mohammed Bello Adoke, Aliyu Abubakar and Malabu Oil & Gas Limited.
All the defendants declared wanted had repeatedly failed to appear before the court.
In view of their persistent absence in court, the EFCC had through its counsel, Mr. Aliyu Yusuf, brought a motion ex parte praying the court for a warrant of their arrest and an order for leave to execute the warrant outside of the jurisdiction of the court.
“At today’s proceeding, Justice Senchi, granted the prayers of the EFCC, and ruled that the Nigeria Police, the INTERPOL and any other law enforcement agency should arrest them anywhere they were found, including outside jurisdiction of the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) High Court,” an EFCC statement said.
The matter was adjourned to July 11, 2019 for further hearing.
In a response last night, Adoke said he would fight the order in court because he had already been cleared of any wrongdoing by a “competent court of law”.
“The honorable judge was misled by the EFCC to grant the warrant. Justice Binta Nyako ruled in April 2018 that I was only carrying out a presidential order in the OPL 245/Malabu transaction and that I had no case to answer. That naturally ends the EFCC case against me but the agency has chosen this path and I will use all legal means to exonerate myself,” he said.
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