JUSTICE ODILI: Count me out of house raid, I was not involved, says Malami
More top government functionaries have come out to publicly deny their involvement in the alleged Friday’s raid of Justice Mary Odili’s residence in Abuja by supposed security agents.
The latest of these officials was Nigeria’s Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Malam Abubakar Malami (SAN), who explained that he was not involved in the raid on the Supreme Court’s home.
Report Friday had it that security operatives stormed the residence of Justice Odili claiming that they received information on “illegal activities” in the house.
The Nigeria Police Force and Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) had told The DEFENDER that neither were they involved in the alleged operation nor did they know about it.
In his own reaction Saturday, Malami said said, as the Attorney General of the Federation, he will not be associated with “an apparent in-elegant and nasty court process” of which the search warrant, presented by the security operatives, was procured.
He also picked faults in the details of the search warrant noting that the reference to “Ministry of Justice” was ambiguous and without clarifying as to whether it is Federal or State Ministry and of which State.
The search warrant documents presented by the security operatives and made available to journalists read that it was granted to the Joint Panel Recovery unit of the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Malami, in the statement, however, clarified that there is 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.
According to him, what the Ministry has is “Assets Recovery and Management Unit” and its mandate does not include stings operations.
He stressed that there are “numerous incongruities” in the documents thereby revealing traces of criminal actions.
Read full detail of Malami’s full statement below:
Justice Odili: I was not involved, Count me Out, says Malami
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN was not in any way connected with the fabrications and concocted lies linking him to the ensued imbroglio relating to news stories about the residence of a Justice of the Supreme Court; Justice Mary Odili.
This is made known in a statement by Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and made available to newsmen on Saturday the 30th day of October, 2021.
He said the clarification to debunk the mischievous publication became imperative in view of the media hype and the dimension the story is taking.
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
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.
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.
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.
Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu
(Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations
Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice)
Saturday 30th October, 2021
