Shasore is set to be arraigned before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court, Lagos on Thursday.
A former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Mr Olasupo Shasore, who allegedly obtained $2 million from Process & Industrial Development Ltd, a British Virgin Island engineering firm, to frustrate a case against Nigeria, has hired four Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) to lead his defence.
Shasore is set to be arraigned before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court, Lagos on Thursday.
According to City Lawyer, leading the defence team of Shasore is law reform advocate, Charles Candide-Johnson (SAN). Others are Mr. Olawale Akoni (SAN), Dr. Muiz Banire (SAN), and Mr. Chijioke Okoli (SAN).
Meanwhile, a bail application showed that the legal team for the embattled senior lawyer will seek bail on personal recognisance for Shasore to allow him to go home.
Dated October 13, 2022, and filed on the same day, the bail application is seeking “AN ORDER admitting the Applicant to bail on ‘self-recognisance’ and/or on such reasonable and liberal terms as the Honourable Court may determine pending the hearing and determination of this Charge.”
The application is supported by a 20-paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Orji Agwu Uka, a legal practitioner and one of the defence lawyers.
The matter is filed as Charge No. FHC/L/447C/2022, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Olasupo Shasore, SAN.
In the charge sheet, Shasore was alleged to have induced one Olufolakemi Adelore, in accepting a cash payment of the sum of $100,000 without going through a financial institution.
He was also alleged to have made a cash payment of the sum of $100,000 to Ms Adelore through two persons, Auwalu Habu and Wole Aboderin.
The anti-graft agency also alleged that the senior lawyer made a cash payment of $100,000 to one Ikechukwu Oguine without going through a financial institution.
Shasore was said to have committed the alleged offences on or about November 18, 2014. According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the sums exceed the amount permitted by law.
It added that the offences also contravened sections 78(c), 1(a) and 16(1)(d) and 18(c) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended).
“That you Olasupo Shasore, S.A.N. on or about the 18th day of November 2014 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court induced Olufolakemi Adelore to commit an offence, to wit accepting cash payment of the sum of US100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) without going through a financial institution which such exceeded the amount authorised by Law and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 78(c) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and punishable under section 16(6) of the same Act.
“That you Olasupo Shasore, S.A.N on or about the 18th day of November 2014 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, in a transaction without going through a financial institution, made cash payment of the sum of USD 100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) to Olufolakemi Adelore through Auwalu Habu and Wole Aboderin, which sum exceeded the amount permitted by Law and you thereby committed an offence contrary to sections 1(a) and 16(1)(d) the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as Amended) and punishable under section 16(2)(b) of the same Act.
“That you Olasupo Shasore, S.A.N., on or about the 18th November, 2014, in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this honourable Court, induced one Ikechukwu Oguine, to commit an offence, to wit: accepting case payment of the sum of USD100,000.00 (One Hundred thousand United States Dollars) without going through a financial institution, which such amount exceeded the amount permitted by Law and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(c) of the Money Laundering Act, 2011 (as amended) and punishable under Section 16 (2)(b) Of the same Act.
“That you Olasupo Shasore, S.A.N on or about the 18th day of November 2014 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, without going through a financial institution and made cash payment of the sum of USD100,000.00 (One Hundred thousand United State Dollars) to one Ikechukwu Oguine which sum exceeded the amount permitted by Law and you thereby committed an offence contrary sections 1(a) and 16(1),(d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition Act, as amended) and punishable under section 16 (2)(b) of the same Act.”
In January, EFCC interrogated Mr Shasore over his involvement in the Process & Industrial Development (P&ID) $9.6 billion judgement saga.
The senior lawyer, who was appointed as Nigeria’s legal representative in the P&ID case in 2012, was accused of compromising the country’s defence at a British arbitration tribunal, contributing to the humongous award issued against Nigeria by the panel.
P&ID Ltd had won a $9.6 billion arbitration against the Nigerian Government over a 2010 gas supply deal that went sour.
The court in London had ordered Nigeria to forfeit assets totalling $9.6 billion as compensation for the engineering firm if the country was unable to prove its case.
Documents obtained by SaharaReporters showed that following an investigation by the EFCC, Shasore was found to have been paid $2 million for his involvement in the first and second stages of the arbitration.
To achieve this target, he allegedly concealed his involvement in the case from his own firm, Ajumogobia & Okeke, but conducted the proceedings covertly through a separate firm, Twenty Marina, which had no background in litigation and was used to provide secretarial services.
Shasore, it was discovered, made payments of $100,000 each to Mrs Olufolakemi Adelore and Mr Ikechukwu Oguine, who were senior lawyers for the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (now Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited) at the time.
The payments were said to have been made to purchase the silence of Adelore and Oguine in relation to Shasore’s conduct of the arbitration.
A source privy to how the whole drama panned out, told SaharaReporters that Shasore’s conduct in the first two stages of the arbitration was totally unacceptable.
“Based on these payments, Mr Shasore was clearly dishonest and corruptible.
“Following the election of President Muhammadu Buhari into the office and the transfer of the conduct of the arbitration to the Ministry of Justice for the liability phase, Shasore has refused to meet with the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and complained that it was unacceptable and unconscionable to liaise with the AGF’s office on the matter as he had always liaised with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources since the commencement of the proceedings.
“He chose not to seek any disclosure, to accept all material aspects of Mr Quinn’s witness evidence and did not seek to cross-examine anyone at P&ID on the key issue in the case: whether P&ID could and would have performed the GSPA.
“In light of the indicators of fraud listed above, the most likely explanation for this is that Mr Shasore had entered into a dishonest arrangement with P&ID not to challenge its evidence or seek any disclosure with the inevitable result that Nigeria lost the case.”
In August 2019, the UK court declared that P&ID could take over assets from Nigeria totalling $9.6 billion for the country’s breach of the deal between them.