{"id":53805,"date":"2016-10-11T16:16:56","date_gmt":"2016-10-11T15:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=53805"},"modified":"2016-10-11T16:16:56","modified_gmt":"2016-10-11T15:16:56","slug":"attorney-general-justifies-judges-arrest-says-no-one-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/attorney-general-justifies-judges-arrest-says-no-one-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Attorney General Justifies Judges Arrest, Says No One Above Investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF),
\nAbubakar Malami (SAN) Tuesday<\/span><\/span> justified the arrest of some judges by the
\nDepartment of State Services (DSS).<\/p>\n

Malami argued that what happened in relation to the affected judges was
\nmere investigation of criminal allegations.<\/p>\n

He contended that no one is immune to investigation under the Nigerian
\nlaw, noting that once allegation of criminality was raised, it was the
\nduty of the relevant investigating agencies to carry out investigation.<\/p>\n

The AGF spoke in Abuja Tuesday<\/span><\/span> shortly after inaugurating the \u201ccountry
\nexpert review committee for the second cycle of the review of
\nimplementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption
\n(UNCAC).\u201d
\nMalami, who was asked by journalists to comment on the arrest of judges,
\nsaid:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fundamental consideration is whether there is an allegation of the
\ncommission of a crime;\u00a0 whether there is the need for investigation, and
\nwhether the relevant provisions of the law and indeed, all circumstances,
\nas provided in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) are put
\ninto consideration in our conduct as regard the fight against corruption.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is that we have a responsibility to fight corruption.
\nCorruption is a crime and nobody, regardless of how highly placed, and is
\nexempted as far as issues that border on crimes and criminalities are
\nconcerned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe limited exceptions as we know constitutionally are the exceptions of
\nimmunity. And to the best of my knowledge those exceptions do not apply to
\ninvestigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor those that are conferred with the immunity, the right to investigate
\nhas not been taken away constitutionally.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I think the framework and the circumstances within which we are
\noperating are clearly whether there exists the right to investigate or
\nnot, and whether the action borders on criminality.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce crimes and criminality are concerned, nobody is an exception. I
\nthink the undertone should be exclusively the consideration of the
\nexistence of a prima facie case; existence of reasonable grounds for
\nsuspicion of commission of a crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if there are, no member of the Legislature, Judiciary and Executive
\ncan definitely be exempted from investigation. I think where we are now is
\nthe point of investigation and that is what is taking place,\u201d Malami said.
\nWhile inaugurating the committee, Malami expressed confidence in the
\nability of its members to execute their responsibilities.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThe extant review focusing on Chapter I I and V of the UNCAC,
\nrelating to preventive measures against corruption in public and private
\nsectors and asset recovery, is both necessary and timely at this time in
\nthe annals of our country, when endemic cum systemic corruption has
\ncreated a great discontent between our nation\u2019s wealth and the quality of
\nlife of ordinary citizens.
\nMalami, who noted that the objectives of UNCAC were in harmony with the
\nconviction of the current Federal Government to curb corruption, said it
\nwas necessary for members of the committee to understand the important
\ntask of nation-building which is being committed to their hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me emphasise that the guiding principles of the review is
\nnon-adversarial, non-punitive and not aimed at ranking state parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cNevertheless, members of the expert committee should understand that
\nthose selected, appointed or nominated by my office or your various
\nagencies are chosen based on skills, expertise and commitment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is therefore important to note that your performance in this
\nassignment will be a step in the direction for us as a country and people
\nto achieve the goals that we have set for ourselves \u2013 prevent corruption,
\nrecover, return and manage stolen assets,\u201d Malami said.<\/p>\n

Members of the committee are drawn from 22 agencies of the federal
\ngovernment, including Independent Corrupt Practices and other related
\noffences Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
\n(EFCC), Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML), Technical
\nUnit on Governance and Anti-corruption Reforms (TUGAR).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN) Tuesday justified the arrest of some judges by the Department of State Services (DSS). Malami argued…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\nAttorney General Justifies Judges Arrest, Says No One Above Investigation - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/attorney-general-justifies-judges-arrest-says-no-one-investigation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Attorney General Justifies Judges Arrest, Says No One Above Investigation - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN) Tuesday justified the arrest of some judges by the Department of State Services (DSS). 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