The office of the Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice
Abubakar Malami, SAN has issued a follow-up statement to explain, with clarity and restraint, why the continued involvement of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in matters relating to Abubakar Malami, SAN, is legally untenable, morally indefensible, and constitutionally impermissible.
This statement is focused squarely on Chapter 9 of the Justice Ayo Salami Judicial Commission of Inquiry Report and how the unresolved implications of that chapter have now crystallised into what can only be described as a personal vendetta masquerading as law enforcement.
According to the statement, Chapter 9 of the Salami Report is the bone of contention, or the root of the conflict between the former minister and the chairman of the anti graft agency.
It pointed out that while serving as Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, supervised the establishment of the Justice Ayo Salami Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of office within the EFCC.
At this material time, according to the statement, the current EFCC Chairman served as Secretary to the Commission.
It stressed that Chapter 9 of the Salami Report addressed the conduct and responsibilities of senior EFCC officials, particularly those occupying key administrative and decision-making positions within the Commission; even as it maintained that the chapter speaks directly to institutional accountability and created personal and professional exposure for certain individuals, who are today exercising prosecutorial power over the very Attorney-General to whom the report was submitted.
Viewed against this background, it further pointed out, the present actions of the EFCC cannot reasonably be interpreted as neutral law enforcement, rather they amounted to retaliatory persecution driven by historical animosity and personal vendetta.
It therefore stressed the need for the EFCC chairman to revise himself from the matter, more so that no person is permitted to sit in judgment over a matter in which they have a personal interest or prior exposure.
Maintaining that the applicable test is the reasonable apprehension of bias, not proof of actual malice, and where such apprehension exists, recusal is mandatory, not optional.
The statement further added that any reasonable observer, properly apprised of the facts surrounding Chapter 9 of the Salami Report, would conclude that Abubakar Malami, SAN, cannot receive an impartial investigation or prosecution under the present leadership of the EFCC.
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