Chairman of the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) Resource Centre, Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju yesterday said he would not be cowed to back down in the case of the Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 245 popularly known as the Malabu scandal.
He stated this in reaction to the charges of cyber-stalking filed against him by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice of Nigeria, Abubaker Malami SAN.
It would be recalled that the federal government in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/370/2021, at the Federal High Court, Abuja, accused Suraju of cyber-stalking former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Mohammed Adoke.
Adoke, who is one of the principal actors in the OPL scam, had petitioned the police accusing the HEDA chairman and others involved in the prosecution of the Malabu scandal of fabricating evidence against him.
A United States Senator, Patrick Joseph Leahy, had expressed concern over the charges.
In his personal Twitter handle, the senator who is also the Pro tempore (for the time being) President of the U.S Senate, charged Nigerian Judiciary to uphold the rule of law and freedom of expression without fear or favour of any kind.
Speaking with Daily Trust in Lagos yesterday on the sidelines of the symposium with the theme, “Media/CSOs Alliance Against Corruption: Setting Agenda for Good Governance and Sustainable Development in 2022,” Suraju said HEDA could not be cowed into backing down on the Malabu case.
He also spoke on the recently released corruption perception index by the Transparency International (TI) with Nigeria dropping five places, saying it showed that the much-touted anti-corruption war of the present government was a ruse.
Suraju said the case filed against him had even challenged him to be more determined in pursuing the Malabu case to a logical conclusion, saying the war against corruption must be frontally fought more so as the nation inches towards another election when politicians tend to be more desperate.
He said, “We are not backing down on the Malabu case. We are not backing down on our case against Adoke or the one against Malami. As much as possible, we will continue doing what we have been doing.
“In fact, it has even challenged us to do more and that we have been doing since the whole shenanigan of both Adoke and Ministry of Justice started.”
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