Alleged certificate forgery: Why I refused to prosecute Buhari – Adoke

.Says certain hawks in Jonathan govt piled pressure on him to disqualify Buhari from 2015 presidential race

. ‘I refused to play politics with the country’s legal system and internal security’

‘I was not doing President Muhammadu Buhari any favour. I was being faithful to the laws of the land’

. ‘How I foiled Tinubu’s further trial after CCT ruling’

A former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Bello Adoke (SAN), has disclosed that his deference to the sanctity of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) made him to resist pressure from prosecuting President Muhammadu Buhari over alleged certificate forgery.

Adoke, who is currently on exile, stated this during his recent interview with TheCable online medium.

Recall that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had filed corruption charges against Adoke especially for his role in transferring over $801 million from Federal Government account into private accounts of former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Dan Etete, in the now famous Malabu oil scandal.

The former AGF added that ahead of the 2015 presidential poll, certain hawks within the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan had piled pressure on him, asking him to prosecute Buhari over alleged lack of valid certificate to contest and ensure his disqualification from the race.

Buhari was the then presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and leading opposition candidate against Jonathan.

He, however, claimed that he dismissed the suggestion on the grounds that the charge could not be sustained as there was no police report or investigation on the matter.

Adoke further disclosed that he refused to issue a fiat for the prosecution of Buhari since the development might lead to serious security consequences.

According to him, some of the hawks within Jonathan presidency labelled him as being disloyal, saying that as the chief law officer of the country, he stood his ground after weighing the consequences of such an infamous action.

The ex- AGF also stated that he refused to play politics with the country’s legal system and internal security.

He said: “It is true that some people came to me and said Buhari should be disqualified because of certificate forgery. As a man with fidelity to the Constitution, I dismissed the suggestion quickly.

“There was pressure to issue a fiat to charge him to court for forgery. But I made my position very clear that I could not see any forgery at all.”

Commenting on what the law says on eligibility for presidential election, Adoke said: “The law did not require you to submit any certificate to INEC and Buhari did not submit any certificate.

“The law only said you must have a minimum qualification of so so and so.

“Therefore, where was the forgery? If he didn’t submit a certificate, where was forgery? There is no police report, no investigation. No responsible AGF will issue any such fiat based on the record before me.

“But I could have been reckless if I wanted to be reckless. I could have been irresponsible if I wanted to be irresponsible. I could have issued the fiat.”

But the former AGF said he recognised what could have been the consequences of issuing the legal fiat for Buhari’s prosecution.

He said: “There could have been mayhem. There could have been destruction. That could have led to the postponement of the elections.

“I know what attorneys-general have done in the past, not minding the consequences for the polity. I know what they are capable of doing. But I am a constitutional purist”.

Speaking on the danger of playing politics with the legal system, Adoke said: “In fact, there were cases in court which I felt were not necessary. They were already becoming a security threat. As a responsible AGF, I believed we did not need further crisis in the country.

“Boko Haram was enough problem for us. I resisted pressures to compound the security challenges in the country by filing or authorising such cases to be filed on behalf of the government.

“I was not doing President Muhammadu Buhari any favour, I must say that. I was being faithful to the laws of the land. That was the duty expected of me. If you call that sympathy, so be it. But I didn’t do him a favour,”

The former AGF also disclosed that he opposed the idea of interim government on the grounds that the concept was illegal and unknown to the constitution.

He said: “When they mooted the idea of an interim government, I was the one that came out to say the concept of interim government is unknown to law.

“People told President Jonathan that I was disloyal, that I was working for Buhari.”

Adoke also revealed how he foiled further trial of former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, after the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) in 2011 quashed the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain’s trial for alleged operation of foreign accounts.

Adoke said he prevailed on the Federal Government to step down appeal process against Tinubu, after the CCT in 2011 quashed his trial for alleged operation of foreign accounts.

“Even I am told that the Tinubu people think I was the one responsible for his trial at the Code of Conduct Bureau, but I was not the one.

“In fact, when the government wanted to appeal, I stood my ground that Tinubu should not be disgraced.

“I argued that there are people in Nigeria that we just cannot afford to rubbish over anything,” the erstwhile AGF said.