Former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohamed Adoke is stranded in the United Arab Emirates. Adoke was in UAE for medical examinations and tested positive for COVID 19.
His lawyer, Kanu Agabi (SAN) revealed his condition to Justice Inyang Eden Ekwo at a Federal High Court in Abuja. According to reports, Adoke is involved in alleged money laundering. The charges were filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) A businessman, Aliyu Abubakar was jointly charged alongside the Former Minister of justice.
Adoke was granted permission to travel abroad for a medical examination on December 11, 2020, following a plea to the court to that effect. Adoke’s release was ordered by Justice Ekwo on the ground that he should return on January 10th, 2021, a day before the scheduled resumption of the trial. Adoke failed to show up in court, prompting his lawyer, Agabi, also a former Minister of Justice to apologise to the court.
Agabi said his client tested positive for COVID 19 at the point of return to Nigeria and was held back by the UAE authorities in Dubai.
The lawyer explained that Adoke eventually tested negative but was unable to return to the country due to flight challenges. The lawyer, while thanking the court for allowing his client to travel for medical examinations, said Mohamed Bello Adoke will return on January 12th, 2021. Agabi said an application dated January 4th and filed the same day, seeking an extension of time to avail the 1st defendant of the opportunity to take care of himself before returning has already been brought before the court.
He prayed the court to extend the time within which Adoke would be allowed to appear in court for continuation of the trial. He assured the court that his client would make himself available for the trial in the next adjourned date. The matter was subsequently adjourned till March 1st to 4th to enable Adoke to take care of himself.
In a chat with Chief Bayode Ogunmupe, Economist, veteran Journalist and social commentator who spoke with NigerianNewsAbroad.com on the trial of the former minister. He opined that it will appear that the Federal Government is not sincere in the fight against corruption.
Ogunmupe said, ‘’there are good hospitals and competent Medical Doctors in Nigeria that could attend to Adoke’s health. He did not need to travel for medical examinations. According to Chief Ogunmupe corruption has been introduced to the judiciary itself. I say this because the story of the former Minister of justice is very suspicious. He is a public official, a former Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He needs to be above board, he needs to clear his name because the fight against corruption required examples.’’
Ogunmupe continued, ‘‘Look at the case of former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, he is a free man now. Is he not? This is after all the hullabaloo about his financial crimes. The judiciary must rise to the occasion by ensuring that those who are charged with financial crimes are promptly tried and justice served. If they continue to allow delay tactics in the dissemination of justice, how can they claim to be serious in the fight against corruption?’’
It will be recalled that former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu was convicted by the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court in 2019 and sentenced to 12 years in prison for N7.65 billion fraud. He was convicted for defrauding the government of Abia State where he was a governor for 8 years using his company, Slok Nigeria Limited. Days after the court ordered the forfeiture of the company, Nigeria anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission commenced the process of dislodging his companies.
On May 8th 2020, the Supreme Court of Nigeria ruled that his trial was wrongly conducted and released him from prison while ordering a retrial. The Supreme Court deemed Mr Kalu’s conviction inappropriate and ordered a retrial of the case. A seven-member panel of the apex court, in a unanimous verdict delivered by Justice Ejembi Eko, declared the conviction null and void.
According to the report, Justice Eko declared that Justice Mohammed Idris, who convicted Mr Kalu, was already a justice of the Court of Appeal when he ruled and sentenced Mr Kalu and his co-defendant.
He held that a Justice of the Court of Appeal cannot operate as a judge of the Federal High Court, and ordered the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to reassign the case for trial. Kalu was thereafter released from custody.
In a chat with a legal practictioner, Ahmed Bakare, based in Lagos, Nigeria, he said, ‘‘the judiciary is supposed to be independent. The courts make decisions based on their findings without recourse to the people in power. However, you have to understand that it is the people in power that appoint judges, pay them salaries, and other allowances. There is no way the judiciary can be entirely independent, the way it should be.’’
‘‘In the case of the former Minister. He is not the first public official to practice medical tourism. All of them do. They know that they have not provided up to date facilities in our hospitals. They have no confidence in our hospitals because the infrastructure they put in place cannot be compared to the ones in the more developed countries. That is why they all run there when they have a simple headache. The corruption we are talking about is everywhere.
We can not say with all sincerity that the judiciary is free from the corruption and that it is independent or free from interference. No, the judiciary has its loopholes. We have to make use of what we have until the situation improves.’’ He said.