By Peter Nkanga
August 21, 2011 03:39AM


Except there is a high-level intervention on his behalf, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, might soon be out of job, knowledgeable insiders told NEXT at the weekend. Some top presidency sources said President Goodluck Jonathan is "seriously peeved" with Mr Adoke for "flouting his directives, undermining his office and acting in a manner capable of embarrassing the administration".

Mr Jonathan, our sources said, became unhappy with the Attorney General after his attention was drawn to a case filed by an Abuja-based lawyer, Max Ogar, against the federal government and the executive chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, (FIRS) Ifueko Omogui-Okauru, challenging Mrs Omogui-Okauru's continuous stay in office. Although Mr Adoke too is joined as defendant in the suit, suspicion is thick in the presidency that the Attorney General himself instigated Mr Ogar to sue a government in which he is part.

Suing your own government

"As far as we are concerned, this is the voice of Jacob and the hand of Esau," a presidential aide, who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, told NEXT. "A discreet probe of the matter is going on and unless evidence suggests otherwise, we believe Adoke is the mastermind of this case. Unless investigation exonerates him, the president is bent on punishing him for this indiscretion. No government can condone a chief law officer who instigates cases against an administration he is supposed to vigorously defend at all times. "

In his case, filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, Mr Ogar of Legalmax Solicitors law firm is contending that Mrs Omogui-Okauru's four-year tenure expired in May this year, and that her continuous stay in office is illegal.

The applicant also wants the court to compel the FIRS chairman to vacate office and refund to the federal government the salaries and allowances she has earned since May 3, 2011.

But a spokesperson to the FIRS confirmed that Mrs Omogui-Okauru's appointment took effect on April 10, 2008, when she was confirmed by the Senate in accordance with Section 3 (2) of the Federal Inland Revenue Act, 2007.

The FIRS chairman would not comment for this story. One of her staff directed enquiries to the communications director of the organization, Emmanuel Obeta, who did not respond to our telephone and emailed enquiries as at the time this newspaper went to press.

A long battle

Mr Ogar's suit is a new twist in a long-drawn plot, championed by Mr Adoke himself, to oust Mrs Omogui-Okauru from office. In the past six months, the Attorney General has written repeatedly to the president and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and lobbied other top administration officials in his push for the removal of the FIRS boss from office.

State governors, ministers, top presidential aides and even traditional rulers, we are told, have prevailed on the Attorney General to sheathe his sword but the matter remained unresolved. NEXT learnt that, at a point, shortly before the last elections, a tense standoff had so ensued between Mr Adoke and Mrs Omogui-Okauru, that the president had to intervene.

A source familiar with the matter said the president ruled in favour of Mrs Omogui-Okauru and admonished Mr. Adoke to let the FIRS boss concentrate on her job.

The president, our sources said, is therefore miffed that the disagreement between the two officials, which he had spent time resolving, had now resurfaced at the court of law.

"The documents cited by the applicants are highly classified official correspondences," one of our sources, a presidential aide, said. "We are convinced that the Attorney General (AGF)'s office deliberately made them available to the lawyer and encouraged him to sue the government. Obviously, the AGF is behind this. He thinks he is cunning, forgetting that he had revealed himself earlier by opening threatening a lawsuit if the FIRS chairman is allowed to remain in office beyond his imaginary illegal term of office."

A job on the line

Another presidency official said the thinking was that the AGF was coordinating the attack against the FIRS boss with the plaintiffs, while pretending he is a co-defendant.

"What we are telling the president is that the earlier he gets rid of him the better," he said. "How can a serving minister of Justice be arranging for the government of which he is part to be sued? Only in Nigeria."

It is however not clear when the President's hammer would descend on Mr Adoke. Presidential spokesperson, Reuben Abati, rebuffed efforts to get him to comment for this story. Several calls on different days to his telephone went unanswered. He also did not respond to text messages sent to him.

Mr Adoke could not be reached for comments either. Several calls to three of his mobile telephones did not go through. His spokesperson, Ambrose Momoh, who said the AGF was away, denied knowledge of Mr Ogar's suit.

He promised to consult with Mr Adoke's secretary and then provide a phone number and email through which we could direct our enquiries to the minister.

Several hours later, he called back to say the AGF was incommunicado; even with his staff.

However, another senior presidency official, said there is need for caution on the issue. According to him, reports of the president's unhappiness with Mr Adoke is incorrect.

On his part, Mr Ogar denied being used by Mr Adoke as a front to oust the FIRS boss. He said his actions are based solely on his desire to hold public figures accountable to the laws of the country.

"I don't know the AGF as a person. He doesn't know me as a person. This is not the first public interest case I am instituting," Mr Ogar said, while making reference to how he had joined the AGF in a lawsuit he once instituted against the Cross Rivers State governor, Liyel Imoke, during the controversy which surrounded his governorship elections.

"I made the AGF a party. The AGF engaged a senior advocate against me. So I cannot work hand in hand with the same AGF today," he said.

The war begins

Mr Adoke's onslaught against Mrs Ifueko-Omogui began in January this year when the FIRS boss wrote to him seeking clarification on her tenure and that of her board members. The FIRS board was constituted on May 24, 2007, but was only inaugurated on July 4, 2008. The FIRS boss wanted the Attorney General to confirm that the tenure of the board members began on the date of their inauguration.

Regarding her own case, Mrs Ifueko-Omogui requested Mr Adoke to confirm whether her current term of office is her final term, given that the FIRS Establishment Act, under which she was appointed, came into effect in 2007. She also drew the attorney general's attention to the fact that her current tenure commenced on April 10, 2008, when the Senate confirmed her.

But in his response, dated February 9, 2011, Mr. Adoke shocked Mrs Omogui-Okauru when he disagreed with the letter of appointment issued her by Baba Gana Kingibe, who was Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF) at the time the FIRS chairman was appointed.

Initially, Mr Kingibe had indicated on May 14, 2008 that Mrs Omogui Okauru's tenure began on May 3, 2007, when she began to act after her three-year tenure under the old Federal Board of Internal Revenue law.

But the then SGF corrected himself via an August 12, 2008 letter to the FIRS boss.

"The correct effective date should have been indicated as the date of the confirmation of your re-appointment by the Senate in accordance with Section 3 (2) of the Federal Inland Revenue Service Act 2007, which was effected on the 10th April, 2008," Mr. Kingibe wrote.

Mr Adoke disagreed with this position. He insisted, in his letter to the FIRS chairman, that her tenure should end in April this year. Apparently stunned, Mrs Omogui-Okauru wrote Mr Adoke another letter on February 14, 2011, informing him that by virtue of the FIRS Act and the appointment letter issued him by the federal government, any argument that her tenure began before April 10, 2008, had no factual basis in law.

A source in the justice ministry said Mrs Omogui-Okauru's letter irked Mr Adoke to no end. He reportedly told close aides that, for challenging his legal expertise, he would not rest until the FIRS boss was removed from office before the expiration of her tenure next year.

On February 17, the Attorney General wrote to Yayale Ahmed, the immediate past SGF, pushing for Mrs Omogui Okauru's removal from office before April 10 this year. Four days later, Mr Adoke took his campaign to the presidency. On February 21, 2011, he wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan requesting him to remove the FIRS boss from office with effect from May 3, 2007.

As it turned out, the president did not grant his request. After conferring with some of his top aides, including his chief of staff, Mike Ogiadomhe, Mr Jonathan ruled that the justice minister was wrong in his interpretation of Mrs Omogui-Okauru's tenure and that the FIRS boss should continue in office.

Not giving up the fight

A source at the justice ministry said the minister felt humiliated by the presidential decision. Shortly after the president ruled on the matter, a series of reports surfaced in the media to the effect that Mrs Omogui-Okauru had been removed from office. Some officials in the presidency accused Mr Adoke of having a hand in the publications.

In July, a Lagos-based weekly reported that the presidency had warned Mr Adoke to halt his campaign against Mrs Omogui Okauru. The paper also reported that the attorney general was working discreetly with some lawyers to sue the federal government and Mrs Omogui-Okauru over the tenure issue. About two weeks after the story was published, Mr Ogar filed his case at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Mr Adoke has only recently settled a long-term disagreement he had with the chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),

Farida Waziri, which at a point snowballed into a hot exchange of words on the pages of newspapers.

The Attorney General also mounted a vigorous campaign to merge the EFCC with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission.

Mrs Waziri had accused the justice minister of interfering with her work, and slowing down our country's war against corruption.

Mrs Omogui-Okauru, an accountant, was first appointed in May 2004 to head the then Federal Board of Internal Revenue for an initial three years. During her three-year reign, she reformed the organization, dramatically increased the federal government's tax revenue and got the national assembly to pass the FIRS Act that granted autonomy to the organization and made it more efficient in tax administration.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5739372-146/justice_ministers_battle_against_inland_revenue.csp

Drama at the seat of Deceit.

okada_man:

Drama at the seat of Deceit. 

GEJ was simply looking for his own Aondoakaa in Adoke when he shunned the likes of Falana, Agbakoba and others , who may strengthen our judicial institution, to settle for Aondoakaa part 2 Adoke . Mr. President should have no complaints. Like Aondoakaa before him, Adoke is neck deep in compromised behaviour. GEJ, if well intentioned , should have stayed away from mercenaries like Adoke who can never act according to principles because of neanderthal greed and a lack of devotion to anything but money and self-interest.

^

I wait to see how a President who supposedly cannot tolerate the allegations against the justice of the appeal court will tolerate this grave misconduct and insubordination  by his own Attorney General and Minister of Justice

Thr source is a houseboy in the villa, he was listening with one ear while clearing the table that 2 secretaries used to drink tea while waiting for thier ogas.

Talking about Anakoonda, where is that guy sef?

blackmann:

Talking about Anakoonda, where is that guy sef?

Busy living it large and spending his IGG (ill gotten gains). Jonathan does not believe in punishing anyone regardless of how bad, wicked , destructive or treasonous their action is . He is the original 'bow and go' President . Just say you are sorry and sycophantically swear loyalty to GEJ and all is forgiven.

Gbawe:

Busy living it large and spending his IGG (ill gotten gains). Jonathan does not believe in punishing anyone regardless of how bad, wicked , destructive or treasonous their action is . He is the original 'bow and go' President . Just say you are sorry and sycophantically swear loyalty to GEJ and all is forgiven.

Hmmmm. Food for thought. The guy no fit try that kinda thing here in the US. he'll have been rotting in jail by now.

Who cares about what they will to him? He is a mole in the government. Let the game continue!!

Who cares about what they will to him? Afterall, he is a mole in the government. Let the game gear accelerate jare!

dis adoki man shud be removed with immediate effect. This is a govt he is meant 2 defend,if he feels things are not done d right way,he shud leave dat cabinet and attack them frm d outside, Saboteur

komek:

dis adoki man shud be removed with immediate effect. This is a govt he is meant 2 defend,if he feels things are not done d right way,he shud leave dat cabinet and attack them frm d outside, Saboteur

Adoke has always behaved like this. That Jonathan retained him in his post 29th May Cabinet , and in the same job, is proof that Mr. President was always planning to fail. I stated , before the election, that two appointment would show whether GEJ is serious or not i.e Senate president and AGF. We saw how Aondoakaa killed the war against corruption in the last regime and we saw how David Mark singularly ensured , despite the huge salaries of our legislators, that the Nigerian senate emerged as the most indolent in the world in relations to remuneration .

It is vital , given where we are as a nation, Nigeria gained an individual of unquestionable integrity as AGF. This is the the only way to ensure a successful war is prosecuted against our number 1 nemesis - corruption.

It is also absolutely important as well that we gained a pro-reform and pro-people senate President who will support the effort of a visionary President by galvanising the Senate to perform out of it skin , justifying their massive earnings, and get us where we need to go ASAP with important bills that address glaring deficiencies . Alas, GEJ could only support Mark and Adoke. They can bring in Okonjo-Iweala or even Warren buffet or George Soros. No one will succeed when the President is in bed with those who want the retention of the status quo.

yes it is ^^ [img]http://2.s07.flagcounter.com/count/DymW/bg=E6E6E5/txt=E6E6E5/border=E6E6E5/columns=1/maxflags=1/viewers=3/labels=0/[/img]
[img]http://s07.flagcounter.com/count/DymW/bg=E6E6E5/txt=E6E6E5/border=E6E6E5/columns=1/maxflags=1/viewers=3/labels=0/[/img]

Aboki or Adoke. . . I knew u were up 2 no gud, Tot GEJ wud appoint qualified professionals in his cabinet. Apart 4rm Iweala. . . Odas wu mkpi.

Does he have the "muscle" to do it?
Your guess is as good as mine.

If thou put a square peg in round hole, wont thou get a damaged peg and a hole, Goodluck and Adoke wont come out of this the same person for sure.