The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has parted ways with one of its top prosecutors amid a sprawling probe into how a high-profile case was bungled last month.
Mr Uket, one of the agency’s prolific prosecutors who earlier handled cases involving Stella Oduah, Peter Nwaoboshi and Sambo Dasuki, was terminated because the agency’s chairman, Ola Olukoyede, was particularly incensed by the prosecutor’s alleged misconduct, according to multiple officials briefed on the matter.
“He was sacked because extensive internal investigation revealed he compromised the case,” an official familiar with the matter disclosed.
“But this may not be the end of the matter.”
Officials managing the situation said the EFCC brass moved quickly to castigate Offem Uket as the wellspring of untold humiliation the agency suffered in court after he suddenly said there was no inculpatory evidence to send Mr Adoke and another suspect Abubakar Aliyu to jail or foist criminal liability on Eni and Shell.
The anti-corruption office received severe reprimand from a federal judge last week during a verdict on the criminal bribery case involving former attorney-general Bello Adoke, the proprietors of Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd, and multinational giants Eni and Shell.
Justice Abubakar Kutigi threw out the case, which the EFCC first filed in 2020 before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, saying the agency wasted four years yet was still unable to prove key elements of its indictment.
The case was the last serious attempt by the Nigerian government to impose accountability on organisations and individuals with suspected ties to the vast corruption that has for years plagued the possession of Nigeria’s deepwater OPL 245 oil block.
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