The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja, on Thursday, granted bail to a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), and two of his co-defendants charged with offences bordering on the controversial Malabu Oil scam.
Justice Abubakar Idris had earlier on January 23, 2020, ordered the remand of the three defendants in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission after they pleaded not guilty to the 42 counts preferred against them by the commission.
The judge had on Monday heard the separate bail applications filed by the three of the seven defendants named as defendants in the charges, before fixing Thursday for a ruling.
The three defendants are Adoke, Aliyu Abubakar, who was accused of offering N300m gratification to the ex-AGF in relation to the Malabu Oil deal, a former company secretary and legal adviser of Malabu Oil and Gas Limited, Rasky Gbinigie.
The rest of the defendants alongside whom they were charged are corporate bodies – Malabu Oil and Gas Limited, Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited, Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited, and Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company Limited.
The corporate bodies did not have to file any bail application.
While the judge granted bail to Adoke and Abubakar, in the sum of N50m each, he granted bail to Gbinigie in the sum of N10m.
The judge ruled that each of sureties must produce one surety each.
Each of the sureties must be resident in Abuja and has property in Abuja which must worth the bail sums imposed on the defendants individually.
