Nigeria’s Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, on Saturday denied involvement in the raid on the residence of a Supreme Court Judge, Justice Mary Odili by security operatives claiming to have gone to enforce a search warrant.
The Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice on Media and Public Relations, Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, in a statement on Saturday disputed the linking of Malami to the reports on the invasion of the residence of Justice Odili.
Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu noted that the clarification to refute ‘the mischievous publication became imperative in view of the media hype and the dimension the story is taking.’
The Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice on Media and Public Relations, declared: “it is important to set the record straight that as the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, Malami will not stoop too low to be associated with an apparent in-elegant and nasty court process on the strength of which the purported search warrant was procured.
“The media reports on the issue depict too untidy process that could never emanate from the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
“The general public need to know that there was nothing called “Joint Panel Recovery Under the Ministry of Justice” in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and by extension the entire Federal Ministry of Justice.
“What we have is “Assets Recovery and Management Unit” the mandate of which does not include stings operations.
“Numerous incongruities in the documents being circulated in relation to the saga reveal traces of criminal actions which particular regards to:
- The name as contained on the purported letter headed paper “Ghost’s Account For Local Whistle Blowers & Assets Tax Recovery Panel”,
- The ambiguous reference to “Ministry of Justice” without clarifying as to whether it is Federal or State Ministry and of which State,
- The claimed office address which as revealed by the letter headed paper is not the address of the Federal Ministry of Justice
- Email address used on the letter.”
Dr. Gwandu argued that all these deductions would have assisted a discerning mind to arrive at a reasonable conclusion of criminal undertones associated with the court process on the basis of which the purported search warrant was procured.
He maintained that the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has since reached out to the relevant authorities for an intensified wider investigation on the matter for necessary actions leading to the prosecution of anyone involved in the matter in view of the fact that the only names on record from the process filed in court are a purported police officer who claimed to be “O/C Assets Recovery Team”, and one Aliyu Umar, a deponent, in the affidavit.
Gwandu stated that the claim of the chief magistrate as reported by a section of the media to the effect that he was being misled by office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice into the issuance of the search warrant is equally forwarded to the relevant investigation agencies to ascertain veracity or otherwise of the purported association of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and which officer, if any, in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is associated with such claimed misrepresentation.