A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, has lauded the court judgment that upheld his no-case submission against the charges filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

This was contained in a statement titled ‘I have been vindicated”, and made available to newsmen shortly after the court ruling.

A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, discharged and acquitted the senior advocate of money laundering charges brought against him by the EFCC.

“I find that there is no evidence to prove the alleged offences against the first defendant (Adoke),” the presiding judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, said.

According to the charge, the anti-graft agency alleged that Adoke accepted a cash payment of the dollar equivalent of N300 million from Aliyu Abubakar in August 2013 in Abuja.

This action is said to be an offence punishable under Section 16(2)(b) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011 as amended.

The former AGF said, “Today, the Federal High Court, Abuja, Coram Inyang Ekwo, J upheld the No-case Submission I made to the spurious charges levied against me by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for the official role I played in the implementation of the 2006 Settlement Agreement entered into by the Federal Government of Nigeria and Malabu Oil & Gas Limited (Malabu) over the disputed ownership of OPL 245.


“It has been a harrowing experience that has lasted for over nine years due mainly to the antics of the prosecution, which hurriedly filed charges against me to satisfy some narrow political interests but became reluctant to prove their case for want of evidence.

“The trial became an object of a political witch hunt and scapegoatism, as the EFCC needed to hang corruption charges on my neck as a way of sustaining FGN’s claims against the implementation of the Settlement Agreement in foreign jurisdictions such as Milan, Italy, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.”

He added that the case has deprived him of his livelihood as a lawyer and arbitrator since 2016, and affected his personal life and reputation.

“God was kind to me by granting me good health and friends who came to my aid in several ways,” he stated.

He said he had an option of considering a legal action over his ordeal.

“Now that the trial is over, I have the option of suing the Nigerian state and all those who contributed to my ordeal.

“While contemplating the next steps, I leave all my traducers to their conscience and the judgment of posterity.

“Despite my ordeal, my faith in the Nigeria project is not misplaced or shaken. I will continue to contribute my quota to the progress and development of our great country,” Adoke concluded.

Ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 18, a former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam has revealed why the chairmanship of the party should return to the North Central region.


Suswam, a former Senator, who represented the Benue north-east senatorial district at the 9th Assembly, said a member of the party from the North Central should complete the tenure of the former PDP chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.

Recalls that Ayu was sacked in March 2023 shortly after the 2023 general elections due to the leadership crisis that rocked the party.


On March 27, Justice W. I Kpochi, of the Benue State High Court in Makurdi issued an interim injunction restraining Mr Ayu from parading himself as the national chairman of the PDP.

Prior to the court order, in the lead-up to the 2023 elections, stakeholders of the party were calling for Ayu’s removal over several allegations.

Subsequently, on March 28, 2023, the party appointed Umar Damagum as the acting national chairman of the main opposition party.


Speaking during a chat with journalists in Abuja at the weekend, Suswam stated that Article 47 sub 6 of PDP constitution “clearly in very unambiguous terms said that once an officer as the national chairman is unable to act for whatever reason, the zone that he comes from should produce his replacement to complete his tenure and we don’t see any reason why we will not do that.”

The former governor, who had declared his interest for the position, said his view that a member from the North Central should complete Ayu’s tenure has the backing of the PDP constitution.

According to him, “Iyorchia Ayu was removed almost a year now, and he has not been replaced because the party has not been able to put itself together. Issues that were outstanding have not been addressed.


“And so every person seems to be doing what he or she likes. But after almost a year, there is this feeling that the party is too despondent, and so there should be some resuscitation of our party, and so let’s have a substantive chairman, hence I declared my interest to replace Ayu since I’m from the North Central.

“Since I indicated interest, there have been a series of activities. NEC has been called, caucus has been called and BOT has been called and we believe that some major decisions will be taken, including that of having a substantive chairman to replace the acting chairman who is from the North East.

“We at the party level believe the North Central should produce that replacement. There are antecedents and that is what is stated in the constitution.


“It is not as if we are devoid of people with the capacity. We have a lot of prominent people. So far, I think two of us have indicated interests that I know. Myself and someone from Kogi who was a former minister. From the rumour, I’m hearing that there is a third person.

“I’m not saying that it must be me, but North Central should not be shortchanged.

“When Bamanga Tuku was removed, Muazu was brought in from the North east. After Muazu, Modu Sheriff. So there is a precedent for that.

“So I don’t see any reason this should be an exception. When Solomon Lar’s tenure, his first tenure expired, it was moved to Gemade. Of course when Gemade was removed, Audu Ogbe completed that tenure.

“So there is a precedent for this, so there is nothing unusual that we are demanding from the North Central.

“We believe that with these three meetings that have been convened by the national working committee of our party, that decision will be taken and one of us will emerge as the replacement for Ayu to complete his tenure.

“It is true that I desire to complete that tenure, it’s true that I have stepped in to consult with people within the North Central.

“Ordinarily, it would have just been a North Central affair. This is not an elective kind of contest. It is just for people to sit down and say look, this is the person we feel that has the capacity to compare Ayu’s tenure. It is not as competitive as people are putting it.”

A Human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, says controversial cross-dresser and social media celebrity, Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky, will have a difficult experience in prison.

According to Effiong, Bobrisky is not a freedom fighter and does not seem like someone who could stay in a restricted environment under harsh and excruciating conditions.

Effiong’s opinion came after a Court in Lagos sentenced Bobrisky to six months imprisonment for abusing the Nigerian currency, Naira.

Justice Abimbola Awogboro handed down the six-month sentence without the option of a fine.

Recall that the controversial celebrity has been in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, since his arrest last week.

However, following his sentencing by the court, the human rights lawyer fears that Bobrisky will be confronted by a culture shock when he enters Ikoyi Prison.

In a post on his X handle, Effiong suggested that he would begin to adjust to his new world after a few days.

He said: “Bobrisky will have a difficult experience in the Custodial Centre (prison) because he is not a freedom fighter and does not seem to me like someone that can stay in a restricted environment under harsh and excruciating conditions.

“The main key to surviving imprisonment is mental strength and courage.

The prison wall only breaks those who are not driven by strong convictions.

“For a freedom fighter, it is a training ground. No true activist goes to prison and comes out weaker. They always come out stronger and bolder. History shows this clearly. Any activist who is broken by imprisonment is a pretender.

If you are all about the ‘soft life’, and you are the fragile type and incapable of enduring physical discomfiture, you should avoid imprisonment.

Some of us came out stronger after our imprisonment because we have always been mentally prepared for it and due to our strong ideological disposition.

“Bobrisky will be confronted by a culture shock when he enters Ikoyi Prison and realizes that it is a different world from what he knows.

“After a few days, he will begin to adjust to his new world.