Declare Adoke wanted, Sagay tells EFCC

The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), has told the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to declare wanted the immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN).

Sagay said this during an interview with our correspondent on Friday while reacting to Adoke’s open letter to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.

In the said letter, Adoke, who has refused to honour an EFCC invitation since December last year, said he would not do so because there was a plan by some of his political opponents to embarrass him in Nigeria.

The ex-minister, who claimed to be undergoing an academic programme in the Netherlands, was invited by the anti-graft agency for his alleged role in the $2bn Malabu oil deal.

Adoke, who said he had finished writing his exams, said he would not honour the EFCC invitation.

But Sagay said Adoke was testing the collective will of Nigerians by refusing to honour the EFCC invitation.

He said if Adoke was not guilty, he should return to Nigeria to clear his name rather than stay abroad issuing statements.

Sagay said, “Anyone that is invited by the EFCC is duty-bound to make himself available. It is just like the police inviting you and the moment you don’t honour the invitation, they will arrest you. So, it is a sign of respect to invite a person.

“In my view, if his hands are clean, why does he care if he will be embarrassed or not? You cannot be embarrassed if your hands are clean because whoever tries to embarrass you will be the one to be embarrassed when the truth is out.

“So, his response looks like a guilty one and he has stayed away from the country to avoid answering questions and so in my view, he has to be declared wanted, the International Police must go after him and wherever he is found, he should be extradited to Nigeria.”




Punch