Ibori: Aondoakaa endorses EFCC ‘s requests on 25 witnesses
Lanre Adewole, Abuja - 24.09.2009

Indications emerged in Abuja on Wednesday that the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa has endorsed a request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to have 25 operatives sent to London as witnesses in the money laundering trial of former Delta State governor, Chief James Ibori.

It was reliably gathered the minister gave the commission the requested go-ahead late on Wednesday evening following a fresh request submitted to his office a few hours earlier.

Commission’s secretary, Emmanuel Akomaye, according to sources privy to the submission of the request, signed the request letter submitted to the office of the AGF.

The commission and the minister had been involved in a ding-dong over the plan to send 25 operatives to London to testify in a money laundering case against Ibori in a Southwark Crown Court in London.
While indications from the commission suggested that the minister was opposed to releasing the operatives for the assignment by not endorsing an earlier request, the minister had denied ever stopping them from going.

He had claimed that the commission had not tabled a formal request before him as its supervising minister, while sources close to the commission claimed that he had pointedly told Akomaye who had reportedly been relating with him on the release of the operatives, that nothing would make him grant the request.

The minister was said to have premised his argument on a claim that all the ingredients of the alleged offence had taken place in Nigeria and not even the existence of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) between Britain and Nigeria, would make him budge.

After the hoopla that followed the alleged earlier rejection of the request, sources revealed that the commission’s boss who returned from lesser hajj on Wednesday evening, directed Akomaye to take a fresh request to the minister, who was said to have eventually buckled under intense pressure and signed the request late last night.

While clearing himself of the initial refusal to release the operatives for the assignment, the minister had said that, “On the issue of 25 witnesses needed by the Met Police, nobody has brought that information to my notice and immediately I saw the publication in the papers today, I contacted the Secretary of the EFCC, Mr. Emmanuel Akomaye, who said they will be bringing whatever they have got from the Metropolitan Police on the next working day as regards the witnesses to testify in Ibori’s case.

“I have no request on my desk in relation to these witnesses. As soon as my office receives the request, it will be treated with dispatch and as the law requires

“Let me make it clear on record that every Nigerian has a constitutional right of free movement and freedom of expression and therefore, the Office of the AGF will not breach the constitution by stopping anybody from testifying before any tribunal or court in Nigeria or outside, including the UK. That is the true fact.

“Lastly, these people are witnesses, they are not accused persons and they have a right to go anywhere to give oral testimony.

“So, the issue of trying to blackmail people and trying to create sensation does not arise. I will never prevent any Nigerian from testifying.”
http://www.tribune.com.ng/24092009/news/news19.html

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