The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has strongly condemned former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, over claims made in his recent book concerning the controversial Malabu OPL 245 oil deal.
In a statement signed by HEDA’s Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, the civil society organization described Adoke’s memoir as an attempt by a man in need of psychological attention to distort facts, feed on public amnesia to mislead the public, contradict of earlier claims in his previous book “burden of (did)service” and absolve himself of responsibility and culpability in the $1.1 billion oil block scandal wish he was charged for directly receiving a $2.2million cash and laundered same through a Bureau de Change and a bank manager in Kano.
Suraju, a prominent anti-corruption advocate, accused Adoke of being a remorseless liar who has concocted stories and fabricated evidence in order to rewrite his ignoble role in the case. He alleged that Adoke’s actions while serving as Attorney General between 2010 and 2015 undermined Nigeria’s national interest and facilitated the unlawful transfer of public funds to private entities under the guise of resolving ownership disputes over OPL 245.
HEDA, a long-standing petitioner in both Nigerian and international investigations into the Malabu deal, reaffirmed its position that Adoke played a central role in approving the controversial settlement between Shell, Eni, and Malabu Oil & Gas Limited, despite numerous red flags. Suraju noted that email correspondences and documents presented by the organisation and its partners as evidence had been officially tendered in courts in Milan Switzerland, and London formed part of the evidence used by prosecutors in foreign jurisdictions.
In 2021, Adoke filed petitions against some persons to the inspector general alleging forgery of an email correspondence from the private email account of a friend of Adoke and beneficiary of the Malabu deal to JP Morgan chase bank, accusing the persons of forgery. He surreptitiously went and mention the name of Suraju and HEDA as the persons of interest. Mr. Suraju appeared before the Police with overwhelming evidence proving not only the email was true and genuine document of court but defended the integrity of the organisation and its partners against the allegation of Adoke, who attempted to hide behind a finger.
Adoke, working with Malami, who was also at the center of HEDA’s several anti-corruption campaigns and petitions, conspired to abandon the forgery allegation and for the first invoked the Cybercrimes act against a civil society activist to fabricate a cyberstalking charge against Mr. Suraju for sharing the court document via the Twitter and Facebook platform of HEDA. Mr. Suraju rose gallantly to robustly defend the fictitious and concocted allegations leading to withdrawal of those charges even before the commencement of full trial, with Malami and Adoke realising the readiness of Suraju to put them both directly under trial.
However, a Federal High Court in Abuja struck out all charges in May 2022 after the Nigerian government withdrew the case due to lack of evidence. Suraju has maintained that all materials published by HEDA were already in the public domain or submitted in international legal proceedings.
Mr. Suraju had since filed a defamation case against Adoke for his defamatory statement in the fabricated petition to the Police, to which he had denied all the claims in that petition in court documents and recounted ever accusing HEDA or Suraju of forging the email, evidence submitted in London court by JP MORGAN Chase bank.
In light of what it describes as “libelous and defamatory” content in Adoke’s book, HEDA said it is committed to and prepared to publish the true story behind OPL245 and the ignoble role of Adoke the former Attorney General in depriving Nigeria of $1.1b in payment and $5.7b in royalties and others, even overriding the advice of a bureaucrat who warned against his signing of the deal. “We will not allow falsehoods to stand unchallenged, especially when they seek to discredit the work of patriotic Nigerians and mislead the public about a case of such national importance, using the proceeds of criminal activities for image laundry,” the organization stated.
Tribute to Former President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari (1942–2025)
HEDA reiterated its commitment to holding public officials accountable and ensuring that justice is served in the long-running Malabu oil scandal, which has drawn scrutiny from anti-corruption bodies and courts across multiple jurisdictions. Adoke, contrary to claim in his tissue of lies called a book, was only discharged and never acquitted in his prosecution by the EFCC.
The reaction from HEDA underscores the continued public and legal contention surrounding the Malabu deal, one of the most high-profile corruption cases in Nigeria’s history.
