FORMER Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of
Justice, Chief Mike Aondokaa, has dismissed media reports that he
was involved in Halliburton scandal and should be arrested by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In a telephone interview with The Nation, Aondoakaa advised the
group who raised the allegation to leave him alone as it was too
early to drag him into 2013 politics.
He said he has taken advantage of President Muhammadu Buhari’s
agriculture policy which, according to him, is yielding fruits for
farmers.
He said his attention was drawn to a publication authored by a
civil society group, Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN),
calling for his arrest and prosecution over Halliburton, 10 years
after he left office.
“As the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of
Justice under the government of the Late President Umaru Musa
Yar’Adua, between year 2007 and 2010 , I did not negotiate or
authorize any payment to the Nigeria Government with one KBR firm a
subsidiary of Halliburton as alleged by the so called Global
Integrity Crusade Network.”
“In fact, all payments made to the government of Nigeria from
the Halliburton were done in 2012 when Chief MKA has left office,
so its laughable to call for my arrest and prosecution,” he
said.
On the allegation that he ordered the transfer of the case of
former Governor James Ibori from Kaduna to Asaba, Aondoakaa stated
that the lawyers to Ibori raised the issue of jurisdiction and the
trial judge transferred the matter to Asaba.
He described Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
under Magu as the chairman, as courageous, adding that if he was
involved in Halliburton, EFCC would have arrested and charged him
to court.
According to the Ex AGF, the EFCC invited him in 2016 and he
said all he know and that since then, he is into farming and
practising his legal profession and knows nothing about
Halliburton.