(Adds details, quote, background)
By Chijioke Ohuocha
ABUJA, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Nigeria's former attorney general
Mohammed Adoke has been arrested in Dubai, his lawyer said,
seven months after Nigeria's anti-graft agency issued a warrant
for his arrest as part of an investigation into one of the oil
industry's biggest suspected corruption scandals.
Adoke's lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, said Adoke was arrested by
Interpol on Monday 11 Nov., after travelling to Dubai for a
medical appointment.
The investigation by Nigeria's anti-graft agency relates to
the $1.3 billion sale of a Nigerian offshore oilfield known as
OPL 245 by Malabu Oil and Gas in 2011.
The agency obtained arrest warrants in April for Adoke,
former petroleum minister Dan Etete, and an Eni manager.
Eni and Shell jointly acquired the field
from Malabu, which was owned by Etete.
The oilfield sale has spawned legal cases across several
countries, involving Nigerian government officials and senior
executives from ENI and Royal Dutch Shell. Shell and Eni, and
their executives, have denied any wrongdoing.
Etete has also denied wrongdoing.
In an Italian case, prosecutors accuse former and current
executives of Eni and Shell of paying bribes to secure the
licence, and allege roughly $1.1 billion of the total was
siphoned to agents and middlemen.
"We have written to Dubai authorities, the EFCC (anti-graft
agency), and the Nigerian authorities to free Adoke to allow him
to go on with his medical treatment in Dubai," Ozekhome said.
He added that the arrest warrant had in fact expired after
being nullified by a court in October, as Adoke was not served
with the charges before the warrant was issued.
A government communication office in Dubai did not respond
to an email seeking comment. Nigeria's EFCC and Interpol were
not immediately available for comment.
Ozekhome said Adoke has appeared in court in Nigeria in the
past over the OPL 245 case and was exonerated.
(Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha; Additional reporting Camillus
Eboh, Richard Lough in Paris, Aziz El Yaakoubi in Dubai
Editing by Alexis Akwagyiram, Jan Harvey and Alexandra Hudson)
