Malabu: Court sets aside arrest warrant on Adoke, Etete; rules charges be served by substituted means

An application for the arrest warrant on former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke; and former Petroleum Minister, Chief Dan Etete be set aside has been endorsed by an Abuja High Court.

Chief Mike Ozekhome SAN, one of the counsels to the men, argued that this was necessary because the court was misled to issue the bench warrant.

He said no charges were served on the two men by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Justice Danladi Z. Senchi of the Federal Capital Territory High Court said the application by Ozekhome was meritorious.

According to him, the EFCC ought to have served the charges to the defendants before applying for the arrest warrant that was granted to it. 

The judge further ruled that the arrest warrant would be reissued against the defendants if they refused to show up in court after they have been served and upon a new application by the EFCC.

He, however, stated that the EFCC ought to have informed the court that it could not trace the defendants so as to serve them the charges, and that the court would have authorised the Commission to serve them by substituted means, which may be by a newspaper advertisement or through their legal representatives when they are in court.

He ruled that the Commission should serve the criminal charges of alleged abuse of office and money laundering in respect of the granting of the Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 245 to Shell and ENI, on both men, by substituted means.

The Commission had on April 17,  2019, obtained a warrant of arrest against Adoke,, Dan Etete, and four others over the OPL 245 scandal.

The EFCC filed criminal charges against the defendants, but having all fled the country, according to the commission, it has been difficult to serve them the charges or produce them in court.

The situation forced the EFCC to apply for a warrant of arrest against them, which was granted by the court,empowering the Nigeria Police Force and Interpol arrest them, anywhere they are seen.

Again, the commission says it has been difficult to execute the warrant as the defendants remained abroad, leaving the court to contend with endless adjournments in the matter.

Following Justice Senchi’s pronouncements, prosecuting counsel, Aliyu Yusuf informed the court that the Commission was going to apply to serve the defendants, through their legal representatives.

“As we cannot serve them because they are at large, we will write an application for leave of court, permitting us to serve the accused through their lawyers and if after adjournment they did not show up, we will still ask the court for a warrant of arrest,” Yusuf said.

Recall that the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo revoked the OPL 245, which the late General Sani Abacha granted Etete, who was his Petroleum Minister and reassigned it to Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company.

Etete’s Malabu Oil and Gas company, however, reclaimed the oil block in 2006 through the court.

While Shell challenged the decision, a settlement and resolution, which EFCC claims was fraudulent came under President Goodluck Jonathan’s government with Shell and Eni buying the oil block from Malabu in the sum of $1.1billion. 

Investigations by the EFCC into the deal revealed alleged crimes that border on conspiracy, forgery of bank documents, bribery, corruption and money laundering to the tune of over $1.2 billon against  Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd, Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep (SNUD), Nigeria Agip Exploration (NAE) and their officials, culminating in criminal charges against Adoke, Etete and others, which is still pending before the FCT High Court and the Federal High Court.