HEDA Cautions AGF Over Dropping High Profile Corruption Cases
Concerns over HEDA AGF case withdrawal have intensified following a formal petition by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda Resource Centre to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi SAN. The anti corruption group warned that the growing trend of discontinuing high profile criminal cases threatens the credibility of Nigeria’s justice system and weakens public confidence in the rule of law.
According to HEDA, recent moves to withdraw prosecutions involving Honeywell Group Chairman Dr Oba Otudeko and senior lawyer Prof Mike Ozekhome SAN create the impression that influential individuals can evade accountability.
The organization argued that once cases involving serious financial crimes and alleged international fraud have reached the courts, they should be allowed to proceed to a full judicial determination rather than being halted through executive discretion.
HEDA specifically faulted the decision to discontinue the EFCC case against Dr Otudeko over a twelve point three billion naira loan linked to First Bank, stressing that recovery of funds does not erase the criminal elements of an alleged offense because the Nigerian state remains the primary victim.
The group also expressed deep concern over the takeover of Prof Ozekhome’s case from the ICPC by the AGF’s office, noting that the matter involves alleged forged identity documents and a disputed London property already criticized by a foreign tribunal.
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HEDA warned that dropping such cases damages Nigeria’s international standing, undermines national identity systems, and demoralizes investigators who spend years building complex prosecutions.
The petition urged the Attorney General to allow courts, not political offices, to determine the strength of evidence, emphasizing that sustained withdrawals under constitutional powers risk turning anti corruption trials into brief spectacles rather than meaningful paths to justice.