Former Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, Mohammed Bello Adoke, has been discharged and acquitted by an Abuja Federal High Court of money laundering charges. The judgement was delivered on Friday, 19 April 2024.

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, upheld Adoke’s “no case” submission of the money laundering charges against him by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission ( EFCC).

In 2017, EFCC had dragged Adoke and Abubakar Aliyu, a property developer to court for allegedly laundering about N300 million. While the EFCC admitted before Ekwo that it was a mortgage that Adoke took from Unity Bank, it alleged before Justice Kutigi that the money was a bribe from the sale of the oil block by Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd in 2011.

On March 28, 2024, Kutigi pointed out the contradiction while dismissing the charges against Adoke and other defendants, chiding the EFCC for wasting the court’s time for four years.

But on Friday, 19 April 2024, Justice Ekwo said the EFCC did not provide any evidence to prove the essential elements of the offence against Adoke, who was listed as the first defendant.

Ekwo upheld the no-case submission while discharging and acquitting him of the charges. The judge, however, ruled that Aliyu, the second defendant, has to open his defence because he has a case to answer.

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