Leadership (Abuja)
George Agba
20 November 2008
Abuja — The Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), appeared to have been vindicated when a London Court upheld his position in his celebrated face- off with Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, the former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman.
In a ruling over the admissibility of any evidence submitted by EFCC or gathered by the two agents of the London Metropolitan Police who were in Nigeria last year to investigate issues relating to Chief James Onanefe Ibori, Judge Rivlin QC, sitting in the Southwark Crown Court, made it plain that in as much as the right procedures were not followed in initiating that cooperation between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, whatever evidence the British police gathered or got from Ribadu's EFCC, would not be admissible in the on-going trial of some of Ibori's associates in London.
On Page 10 of the 11-page ruling, the Judge summed up the decision: "I have taken the trouble to set out in some detail the chronology of the documentation brought to my attention, because it appears to reveal a woeful lack of communication between the EFCC and the attorney general of the federation, then there has been a lack of communication between the Attorney and the Home Secretary. I state this as a fact; rather than to apportion blame; but what the picture also reveals, and what no one has doubted, is that in the result that the (Nigerian Attorney-General) has never actually been given the opportunity to consider the material in the way that the convention requires, and he has certainly never agreed that it should be handed over to the Requesting Party (the London Metropolitan Police) for use in criminal proceedings. I regard these breaches of Articles 6 and 7 as being fatal to its use in court. I believe that the wishes of the Attorney not merely deserve to be respected, but they must be respected. Having regard to all that has transpired, and the proximity of that first trial, it is, therefore, with considerable reluctance that I must rule that this evidence is inadmissible at this stage".
As though to be doubly sure that the ruling would not be misinterpreted in any way, the Judge continued under a section subtitled "The Way Ahead": "1. If the Crown seeks to rely upon the Nigerian material obtained under the relationship with the (British as authorised by Ribadu) I suggest that it should be submitted to the Attorney (General of the Federation) as soon as possible, so that he may review it and decide whether he can properly authorise its release"
2. It is right that I should say that in all the circumstances of this case, I share the concerns of the defendants that the material submitted might also not have been authorised as required under the convention. I think it is important that this should be investigated and confirmed as soon as possible. In the absence of an entirely satisfactory response, in pursuance of my obligation to ensure that the trial is properly managed, I request that this material too should be submitted to the Attorney General for his consideration. Indeed, it may be the safest course to do this in any event."
3. Touching on the matter as it concerns Mrs. Nkoyo Ibori, who has been confined to Britain for months now, the ruling states thus: "If the Crown intends to rely on any Nigerian evidence in the case of Theresa, this must be done as well".
The Aondoakaa/Ribadu face- off has been one of the defining issues of the President Umaru Yar'Adua administration. It centred on who, between the former EFCC chairman and the Attorney-General, had the rights to act on Nigeria's behalf under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) "concerning the Investigation and Prosecution of Crime and the Confiscation of the Proceeds of Crime" as was spelt out in that ruling of last Monday. Ribadu, as EFCC chairman, had related with the London Metropolitan Police in initiating certain actions against Chief James Onanefe Ibori, the former Delta State governor and his associates.
Many public commentators have exoneriated Aondoakaa for not playing along with Ribadu, and for insisting that Ribadu had no rights within the said convention to act on the country's behalf. Actually, the cases the London Judge looked into did not all take place under Aondoakaa's tenure as Attorney General as Ribadu initiated the first relationship with the London Metropolitan Police under Obasanjo's presidency and when Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN) was Attorney-General in 2006.
The present Attorney General had all along sang the mantra that Ribadu had abused the rule of law which he swore to up hold under the new dispensation which incepted Alhaji Umaru Yar'Adua's Presidency. Also, he has been saying that he was not protecting anybody but has always acted on principle and for the advancement of the rule of law.
The crown prosecution service has appealed the ruling, and the appeal would be heard as early as next month.
Lawyers to the defendants had objected to the use of materials acquired in any way by the British authorities either directly or through the EFCC as long as the Mutual Assistance Treaty between Nigeria and the United Kingdom was not respected before it was acquired.
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