A Federal High Court in Abuja has declined the Federal Government’s request to order the arrest of a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke.
The request was made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in relation to Adoke’s role in the Malabu oil deal, which involved the sale of an oil bloc, OPL 245, to Shell Nigeria Limited and Eni.
Adoke is being tried by the EFCC alongside the two oil firms. Other defendants include, Aliyu Abubakar, Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd, Rocky Top Resource Ltd, Imperial Union Ltd, Novel Properties & Dev. Co. Ltd, Group Construction Ltd and Megatech Engineering Ltd.
At the resumption of the trial, on Monday, counsel to the Federal Government, Johnson Ojogbane, prayed the court for an arrest warrant on Adoke.
Justice John Tsoho, however, rejected the request.
Ojogbane then asked the court for an adjournment to enable him amend the charges.
OPL 245 is estimated to contain about 9 billion barrels of crude, arguably the largest in Africa.
The licence was awarded during the regime of a former military dictator, Sani Abacha, under the supervision of then Minister of Petroleum, Dan Etete.
It was then sold for $1.3 billion in 2011 to Eni and Shell.
Malabu Oil is alleged to have received $1.09 billion illegally from the sale.
Adoke 