Malami exonerates self, but insists CCB, EFCC have powers to probe, prosecute Tinubu

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami SAN, on Tuesday refuted the involvement of his office in the investigation of the national leader of the ruling Progressives Congress (APC) and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) immediately after the confirmation of the appointment of Bawa, EFCC chairman, by the Senate. The AGF and Justice Minister, however, declared that the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are empowered by the Acts establishing their existence to prosecute Tinubu. Malami had declared: “The EFCC and Code of Conduct Bureau are all statutory bodies that are vested with statutory powers.”

Malami on Channels Television – Politics Today – on Tuesday, said that office of the AGF and Minister of Justice is not investigating the APC national leader, Tinubu. The AGF maintained that he never issue any instruction to the EFCC and CCB to re-open investigation or case file on Tinubu, adding that the office has not filed any suit in court against the former Lagos State governor.

Malami had declared: “The office of the Attorney-General… has not filed any action before any court in the land relating to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“But then, within the context of the law… the EFCC and Code of Conduct Bureau are all statutory bodies that are vested with statutory powers to act within the context of the laws establishing them.”

The AGF insisted that he cannot confirm if the EFCC or the CCB is investigating Tinubu. Malami implied the view that the EFCC and CCB do not take instructions from him to perform their duties, reiterating that the agencies are statutorily empowered to probe and prosecute people.

It will be recalled that EFCC in November 2020, wrote the CCB, demanding the asset declaration form of Tinubu.

Tinubu had in 2011, was investigated by the CCB and subsequently prosecuted at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT),  the CCT, however, dismissed the case on technical grounds.

Meanwhile, there insinuations that that the asset declaration records of Tinubu are missing from the CCB storage facilities they were kept. This is generating fears that the investigation by the EFCC may be stalled. However, there are also fears that heads may roll at the CCB for the missing documents, or the former Lagos governor may face more serious case for not making the declaration.