Corruption: Noose tightens around Melaye as AGF cringes under pressure to prosecute senator

After series of petition by civil society organization, Justice Minister/AGF Abubakar Malami is finally preparing to prosecute Kogi’s former Sen. Dino Melaye for allegedly operating foreign accounts with fictitious names when he was senator.

The Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) had accused Mlami of retrieving files containing the allegations from the Code of Conduct Bureau.

The file contained allegations that Melaye was operating foreign bank accounts but that the file had been taken away from the Bureau to the office of the Attorney-General of Federation and Minister of Justice in response to the request from the Attorney-General vide a letter with reference number DPPA/REO/686/17 dated January 5, 2018.

The CSNAC said it wrote several letters to Malami claiming the non-release of the files was frustrating efforts to bring the lawmaker to justice.

But in a statement on Sunday, the group said Malami just responded, asking for more time.

“In a letter addressed to CSNAC Chairman, Mr Olanrewaju Suraju, Malami requested for an extension of time to study the request for the release of the case file,” the statement said in part.

The plea for more time, the group said, is not convincing enough.

“We have received response from the Justice Minister. The language is similar to responses in the past. It’s a case that will be pursued to its logical end until the files are released and Senator Malaye brought to book.”

Suraju trial that the minister’s approach to the allegation raises suspicion Melaye’s case, a high-profile one, is being swept under the carpet by the government.

“The Minister, who recently accused the suspended Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, of delaying investigation in a complex matter of P&ID in less than one year of investigation, will have no justification for holding a file involving a concluded investigation for almost three years,” said Suraju.

The last time his group demanded an update from the Code of Conduct was May, 2018. The bureau said it transferred the case file on the request of the Attorney-General.

Again on March 13, 2020 a request for an update on the matter was submitted to CCB with another reminder in another letter dated August 07, 2020.

It said the Ministry admitted taking over the case file by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.