A former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), has given the current
Adoke who issued the ultimatum through his lawyers led by Chief Paul Erokoro (SAN), is also asking Malami to tender a public apology for making statements which he knows to be untrue and defamatory against the person of Adoke.
According to the letter dated
Erokoro in the letter said the statements of Malami, which in themselves were not true, have however negatively affected Adoke's image because the court proceedings were on live television in
Erokoro added that newspapers also gave prominent coverage to the defamatory words attributed to Malami, even when they were not true hence the essence of the formal protest.
Malami was accused of maligning the person of Adoke in several paragraphs of his 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th witness statements filed on the
Specifically, he had accused Adoke of having a hand in the failed P&ID agreement, receiving kickback from the deal through former petroleum minister, Chief
But Adoke did not only deny all the allegations, he recalled that even Malami had exonerated him from complicity in the P&ID deal, adding that when a competent court in
"Our client is astounded by your failure to inform the English court that under Nigerian law, any person charged with or accused of a crime MUST be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Rather, you pronounced our client guilty, even when you were fully aware that his trial had not even commenced. The Attorney-General's oath of office includes an undertaking to protect and defend the Nigerian Constitution.
"The constitutional right to fair trial is severely breached when the Attorney-General of the
"This has done incalculable harm to our client's name, reputation and standing in society. Our client will suffer even more harm if the English Court, misled by your evidence, makes an adverse finding against our client. It is for this, among other reasons that the first duty of the Attorney-General and indeed all counsel, is to the Court", the letter read in part.
In defending the allegation, Adoke reminded Malami that he became Attorney-General of the Federation on the 6th day of April, 2010, whereas the negotiations for the Gas project had been on from 2009, adding that he only became aware of the P&ID matter when the
"Our client finds it remarkable that you found no fault in the appointment of the arbitrator but found fault with the appointment of counsel, even though the two appointments followed the same process. For this reason, our client is forced to conclude that your vilification of his name is merely a case of giving the dog a bad name in order to hang it.
"Our client asserts that even though he appointed Mr. Shasore as counsel, Mr. Shasore's legal fees were paid by the administration of
"It is also on record that our client was not involved in any of the negotiations with P&ID for settlement, which all took place under your watch. The initial proposal for settlement was delivered to
"You also conceal these facts from the court even though the records have been in your office all along. If our client had been part of any corrupt scheme with P&ID as you claimed in your evidence, surely our client would have jumped at the chance to give P&ID a favourable settlement.
"Please note in this regard that the Final Award was issued in
Adoke further queried why Malami would accuse him of corruption when at their request to the United States Government for information on all bank accounts owned by our former President
While reminding Malami that the
"Our client demands that you retract the false evidence that you gave to the English Court, regarding him" and apologise for the harm done to his name.
Adoke also demanded that Malami instruct his counsel in
"Our client demands that you instruct your counsel in
"Our client demands that you propose appropriate monetary compensation for the violation of his constitutional rights and for the damage to his reputation.
"Our client will appreciate it if you meet his demands within seven days of your receipt of this letter," Erokoro said.
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