Justice Abubakar Kutigi of the FCT High Court discharged Mohammed Bello Adoke, the former attorney general of the federation, and six others on Thursday.
They were charged with infractions relating to the controversial Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245, otherwise known as the Malabu Oil scam.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission dragged Adoke and other defendants before the court on an amended 40-count charge bordering on disobeying the direction of the law, offering and receiving gratification, conspiracy, and forgery, among other things.
Mr Adoke, who served as Nigeria’s justice minister under then-President Goodluck Jonathan, was prosecuted by EFCC in the suit, marked FCT/HC/CR/151/2020.
Others were Aliyu Abubakar, Rasky Gbinigie, Malabu Oil and Gas Limited, Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited, Shell Nigeria Extra Deep Limited and Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company Limited.
In ruling on the no-case submission filed by the defendants, the judge held that any trial process is evidence-driven. But in this instance, the prosecution failed to produce certain documents or call some witnesses to prove its case.
He further held that the prosecution has failed to prove the essential elements of the offences the defendants were charged with before the court.
According to him, though the defendants were constitutionally presumed to be innocent, the prosecution had to produce sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case against them and warrant the court’s call on them to enter their defence.
Mr Kutigi held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the defendants in the current case. He cited situation three, which involved three counts of forgery, yet the prosecution failed to tender relevant documents as exhibits.
The judge further held that a charge must not be filed to do so, submitting that a frivolous charge damages the judicial system. In his final written address, he commended the prosecution counsel for accepting that the prosecution had not made a case against the defendants.
Mr Kutigi, however, lamented that it took the prosecution four years before realising it.
”The defendants ought not to have been charged in the first instance. This stemmed from the fact that the prosecution failed to produce before the court the minimum evidence to enable the court to order the defendants to enter their defence,” he said.
The judge held that to allow the case to continue, considering the totality of evidence brought before the court by the prosecution, is likened to inflicting undue hardship and injustice on the defendants.
Therefore, he discharged all the defendants of the charge preferred against them, to which they pleaded not guilty. He held further that the consequence of such discharge is an acquittal and a dismissal of the charge against them on merit.
“On the final analysis, my firm decision is that the evidence adduced by the prosecution on record is not sufficient to justify the continuation of this trial. In other words, the prosecution has failed to tender required minimum evidence to establish the essential elements of all the counts of the offences that they (defendants) have been charged with respectively.
“For this reason, I hereby preclude them from entering upon their defence and accordingly, I hereby discharge the defendants of the entirety of the charge preferred against them,” the judge ruled.
Reacting to the court’s ruling while speaking with journalists, Mr Adoke expressed gratitude to God that it was all over and he could now get his life back.
(NAN)
