Adoke asks IGP to investigate ‘criminal forgery’ of e-mail in OPL 245 case

Our Ref: FO/MBADOKE

Date: 05 February 2021

Inspector-General of Police, Louis Edet House,

Force Headquarters, Shehu Shagari Way, Garki,

Abuja. Dear Sir,

Tel: 09 875 5173

Email: [email protected] www.agabilaw.com

FORGERY OF DOCUMENTS FOR PURPOSES OF UNLAWFUL INTERFERENCE WITH THE COURSE OF JUSTICE.

We are instructed by Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN – the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. We refer to him hereinafter  as our client.  We are instructed to prese!].t the complaint herein involving various acts of forgeries of documents intended for interference with the process of justice and law by some persons unknown but who with a little diligence you can discover. We have reason to believe that the persons or organizations behind these forgeries are the ones that authored the petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), demanding the investigation of the OPL 245 Resolution Agreement. Following the petition, an investigation was conducted by the Commission, culminating  in recent prosecution of parties to the deal.

Unlawful Acts of Forgery ofDocument(s)

In December 2016, the Office of the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Milan filed a notice of conclusion of the investigation and commenced criminal proceedings against parties connected with the OPL 245 Resolution agreement under reference Proc. No. 54772/13 R.G.N.R. The injured party in the criminal trial is named as the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In the course of the criminal trial before the Court of Milan, several allegations of fact have been made against our client which are unsubstantiated.

It has emerged that the parties responsible for the petition, investigations and commencement of the criminal trial at the court of Milan against the individuals/entities connected with the OPL 245 settlement agreement, resorted to forgery of an email dated 21 June 2011, which was submitted to the court as material evidence alleging that the email was authored by our client to unlawfully interfere with the course of justice/law or subverting the wheel of justice at the ongoing OPL 245 settlement agreement criminal trial pending at the Court of Milan, and by extension, the criminal proceedings pending in Nigeria.

At the resumption of proceedings before the Court of Milan on 04/02/2021, the Public Prosecutor produced in evidence an email correspondence dated 21 June 2011 (copy enclosed) which was alleged to have been sent with the email address [email protected] (owned by A Group Properties), to a certain Osoluke, Bayo 0, with email Bayo.o.osoluke@jpmorgan an employee with J P Morgan, and the email was signed off with the name “Mohammed Bello Adoke” as the author of the email in question.

The purpose of introducing this email of 21/06/2011 into evidence was to establish a connection between Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke SAN and Aliyu Abubakar with the central aim of sustaining the corruption allegations made against the OPL 245 settlement agreement.

Our client is particularly shocked at the unlawful design, and collusion with the Public Prosecutors at the court of Milan, connected with the petition, investigation and the criminal trial of the parties to the OPL 245 settlement agreement, to engage in the unlawful acts of forgery of the email dated 21/06/2011 in which it was alleged that Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke authored the document through the email account of A Group of Properties in order to substantiate the allegation of a corruption link between Aliyu Abubakar and Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke SAN, which is the outcome desired by the petitioner, investigators and the Public Prosecutors office acting in collusion, which is material to the outcome of the criminal trial on the allegation of corruption made against the Defendants standing trial before the court of Milan for the OPL 245 settlement agreement.

Our client’s reaction-to the alleged email of 21 June 2011 is that it is a forgery for the following reasons:

i. The email is dated 21 June 2011, this was at the time, Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke SAN was not in office as the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation, owing to the dissolution of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan before his swearing-in on 29 May 2011 as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and our client was only re-appointed as Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice on 2 July 2011. During the period; 29 May 2011 – 2 July 2011, Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke SAN was on holiday abroad as a private citizen, and did not have any dealings with official matters on behalf of the Government of the Federation of Nigeria including official matters about the OPL 245 settlement Agreement in the form of the email of 21/06/2011, as it was inconceivable as a private citizen.

ii. It is alleged that the email of21/06/2011 was sent by Mohammed Bello Adoke from the email address [email protected] which is owned by Abubakar Aliyu, the owner of A Group Properties and that our client signed off the email as “Mohammed Bello Adoke.11  Our client’s position is that it is on record  that all of our client’s correspondence, whether physical or electronic, are signed off with the suffix “SAN”, and at no time did our client sign off any document without using his rank in the legal profession.

iii. The parties responsible for the forgery of the email dated 21/06/2011 would wantto suggest to tl}e Milan Court and the public that our client would sign off an email from another person or a third-party’s email account with his name “Mohammed Bello Adoke” omitting his professional rank of “SAN” which is false. Our client would want to point out that he would never have sent an email from another person’s account and signed off with his name. This is completely illogical. Our client has an e-mail account for his personal and for his official matters. Therefore, it is completely non-sensical to expect our client to use another person’s email address. Moreover, our client while in office, had at least five aides working with him who could have sent an email on his behalf assuming that Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke SAN was busy, or had issues with his email account.

Previous Attempt at Procuring Phoney Documents/Evidence

At the onset of the petition, investigation and commencement of the criminal trial at the court of Milan on the allegations of corruption made against the parties connected with the OPL 245 settlement agreement, reference was to the existence of a tape recording of a telephone interview between a certain Ms Carlamaria Rumor, described as a reporter with RAI Television in Italy and Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke SAN. Our client has denied ever granting any telephone interview to Ms Carlamaria Rumor and has described the interview alleged as phoney, and intended by the parties responsible for the petition and the public prosecutors at the court of Milan for an unlawful purpose, which is to subvert the wheel of justice in Nigeria and Italy.

Our client believes that the parties who initiated the petition, investigations and the criminal trial at the court of Milan, are responsible for staging phoney telephone interview for purposes of incriminating our client in connection with the allegations of corruption made in the criminal trial of the parties to the OPL 245 settlement agreement.

The parties responsible for the petition, investigation and the prosecution of the criminal trial before the Court are, in on a common unlawful criminal design, to wit; take steps to incriminate our client by an unlawful  means to sustain the corruption  allegation  made at the criminal trial  of the parties to the OPL 245 settlement agreement pending at the court of Milan, and extension, in Nigeria.                                     ‘

Parties Responsible for the Alleged Forgeries

Our client has cause to believe that the persons who initiated the petition, investigations and the criminal trial at the court of Milan may have question to answer regarding the email of 21 June 2011 and the phoney telephone recording of an alleged telephone interview between a certain Ms Carlamaria Rumor and our client:

The individuals who initiated the petition, investigations and the criminal trial at the court of Milan have engaged in acts of forgery of the email document dated 21 June 2011 and the phoney telephone interview alleged to have occurred between Ms Carlamaria Rumor (RIA reporter in Italy) and Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke SAN, with the unlawful aim of procuring false documentary evidence for use in subverting the wheel of justice at the ongoing criminal trial of the parties connected with the OPL 245 settlement agreement in Italy and Nigeria.

We hereby make a formal complaint of criminal forgery with the intent to unlawfully interfere with the course of justice and law in Nigeria and Italy against the persons who initiated the petition, investigations and the criminal trial at the court of Milan and thereby engaged in acts of forgery of the email document dated 21 June 2011 and the phoney telephone interview alleged to have occurred between Ms Carlamaria Rumor (RJA reporter in Italy) and Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke SAN.

Yours faithfully,

Kanu G. Agabi, CON, SAN