Ex-AGF Adoke tests positive for COVID-19 in UAE

A Former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, has tested positive for coronavirus in the United Arab Emirate (UAE), where he had gone for medical check-up.

He is stranded in the UAE and is unable to return to Nigeria.

His lawyer, Kanu Agabi (SAN), disclosed this on Monday at the resumption of proceedings in the money laundering case involving Adoke and a businessman, Aliyu Abubakar, at a Federal High Court in Abuja.

The court had, on December 11 last year, granted Adoke permission to travel abroad on medical ground, despite opposition from the prosecuting agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Prosecuting lawyer Bala Sanga had urged the court to reject Adoke’s request for permission to travel abroad, arguing that it took the assistance of security agencies, particularly the International Police Organisation (INTERPOL), to apprehend and return the ex-AGF to Nigeria to face trial.

But, Justice Inyang Ekwo, while granting Adoke’s application for leave to travel abroad, ordered him to return before January 11.

At the mention of the case on Monday, Adoke was absent, prompting Justice Ekwo to enquire about his whereabouts.

Agabi, also a former AGF and Minister of Justice, told the court that his client tested positive for the disease at the point of his return to Nigeria, and was subsequently held back by the UAE authorities.

He said although Adoke later tested negative after his treatment, he was unable to get a flight to return to Nigeria within the time ordered by the court.