{"id":124443,"date":"2025-12-15T21:50:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T20:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=124443"},"modified":"2025-12-15T21:50:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T20:50:17","slug":"malami-accuses-efcc-boss-of-bias-demands-arraignment-or-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/malami-accuses-efcc-boss-of-bias-demands-arraignment-or-release\/","title":{"rendered":"Malami Accuses EFCC Boss of Bias, Demands Arraignment or Release"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Lizzy Chirkpi<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has accused the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of bias and political persecution, calling for his immediate recusal from an investigation involving him.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In a statement issued on Monday by his spokesman, Muhammad Doka, Malami alleged that the probe was driven by \u201cpersonal vendetta\u201d and linked to his recent defection to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He accused the anti-graft agency of illegal detention, media trial and abuse of due process, insisting that the investigation was motivated not by law enforcement objectives but by longstanding animosity within the EFCC leadership.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI have been clearly prejudged and cannot receive a fair, objective or lawful investigation under the current leadership of the EFCC,\u201d Malami stated.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The former minister traced the alleged bias to his time as Attorney-General, when the Federal Government set up the Justice Ayo Salami Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of office within the EFCC. He noted that the current EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, served as Secretary to the commission and that the Salami Report, now in the public domain, contained adverse findings against him.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to Malami, \u201cThe present investigation bears all the hallmarks of retaliatory persecution motivated by personal vengeance.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">On this basis, he formally demanded that the EFCC Chairman step aside from the matter and urged the Attorney-General of the Federation, as the nation\u2019s Chief Law Officer, to intervene.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cTo restore credibility and public confidence, another appropriate law enforcement agency must handle this matter,\u201d he said, warning that failure to act could result in \u201cserious institutional damage.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Malami further demanded either his immediate arraignment before a court of competent jurisdiction or his release within 24 hours, citing Sections 35(3), (4) and (5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). He stressed that only a court, \u201cnot a politically compromised agency,\u201d could lawfully and credibly determine the case.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He also raised concerns over what he described as the EFCC\u2019s attempt to rely on individuals convicted by foreign courts and currently serving prison sentences abroad as potential witnesses.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Describing the move as \u201cdesperate, scandalous and corrosive to the integrity of Nigeria\u2019s criminal justice system,\u201d Malami argued that such persons should ordinarily be subjects of extradition, not prosecution witnesses.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The statement added that Malami\u2019s legal team has taken steps to protect his rights, including requests for Certified True Copies of the petitions that triggered the investigation, as well as the EFCC\u2019s investigation report, to enable him prepare an effective defence.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cLet it be stated clearly: I seek no political settlement or inducement,\u201d Malami said. \u201cMy singular objective is to clear my name openly and transparently before a court of competent jurisdiction. Nigeria must not become a republic where anti-corruption agencies are tools of political intimidation. The law must remain supreme above politics, above power and above persons.\u201d<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Lizzy Chirkpi Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has accused the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of bias and&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":122432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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