A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, SAN, has called on the Federal Government to apologise to him following its resolution of the long-standing dispute over Oil Prospecting Licence 245.

Adoke, who served as AGF during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, made the demand in a statement on Friday, according to Nairameteics.

The senior advocate said he deserved an apology for what he described as years of humiliation and defamation both in Nigeria and abroad over his role in resolving the dispute while in office.

Adoke said the development amounts to an indictment of the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

“This is a further indictment of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration who decided to scandalise and criminalise the hard work we did in the national interest to resolve the disputes caused by the unilateral revocation of the oil block by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2002.

“It is most unfortunate that I was subjected to humiliation and defamation at home and abroad for the patriotic role I played as the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice in resolving the dispute to get this vital national asset working.

“If the Buhari administration and the trophy-hunting anti-corruption activists had not dragged the country backwards with their uninformed intervention, the Nigerian economy would have been far better off today.

“I strongly believe that I deserve an unreserved apology from the Federal Government for the persecution and humiliation I was subjected for nine years and the scar I still bear in my body simply because I advised the Goodluck Jonathan administration to do the right thing on the oil block,” the ex-AGF stated.

While praising Bola Tinubu for resolving what he described as a thorny issue, Adoke said he had forgiven “all those who conspired to tarnish my reputation across the world.”

“I take it as part of the burden of service to my fatherland. I remain steadfast and unshaken in my belief in Nigeria,” he added.

The Federal Government on Thursday announced that Nigeria had reached a settlement agreement with Eni and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited over the long-running dispute surrounding OPL 245.

The announcement was contained in a statement issued by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga following a meeting at the Presidential Villa attended by Claudio Descalzi, the Chief Executive Officer of Eni, and other senior company executives.

According to the statement, the agreement was signed in Abuja, bringing to a close a dispute that had persisted for more than 15 years over one of Nigeria’s most commercially valuable deepwater oil blocks.