• Invasion, An Affront On Judiciary— NBA
• Security Agencies Yet To Claim Responsibility Despite Contrary Evidence
Malami, who spoke yesterday through his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Dr. Umar J. Gwandu, said he was not in any way connected with the exercise.
This comes as President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata, described the invasion as an “affront” on the judiciary.
The NBA president also said the association would hold a meeting with heads of relevant security agencies to get more information on the issue.
A panel, comprising the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigeria Police Force and the Ministry of Justice, was said to have obtained a search warrant from Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna of an Abuja court to conduct a search on the Justice’s residence after a whistleblower, Aliyu Umar, claimed to have observed illegal activities allegedly going on at her residence.
However, while the EFCC came out Friday to debunk the report of activities of its men, the police have kept mute.
Reacting to the situation via a statement, yesterday, Akpata said the fact that the EFCC and Malami have denied their involvement in the operation, “suggests the inference that the residence of the second most senior judicial officer in Nigeria was raided by rogue security agencies. The grave implications of this possibility leave a lot to be desired.”
He said: “When viewed in the context of a similar raid on the premises of Supreme Court justices in 2016, the rationale of which was never fully explained or indeed justified, the NBA interprets last night’s incident as a part of an orchestrated affront on the Judiciary, designed to intimidate and ridicule the Judiciary. The NBA will no longer allow this to continue.
“In case the law enforcement agencies have not learnt their lessons, events like this do nothing but erode the independence of sacred democratic institutions like the Judiciary, undermine the rule of law in Nigeria, and set the country back in the quest to instill confidence in citizens of Nigeria, Nigerian businesses, and foreign investors that Nigeria operates a democracy with an independent judiciary.
“I have spoken with my lord, Peter-Odili JSC, and I am happy to report that she is alive and well. Beyond that, however, it is my pledge to Nigerians that the NBA will get to the root of this matter.”
Malami said it was imperative to debunk the “mischievous publication” linking him to the exercise, in view of the media hype and the dimension the story was assuming.”
The statement read in part: “It is important to set the record straight that, as the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, Malami will not stoop so 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 depicted too untidy a process that could never emanate from the office of the AGF.”
The Minister clarified that there was no such panel as “Joint Panel Recovery under the Ministry of Justice” in the Ministry of Justice.
“What we have is “Assets Recovery and Management Unit,” the mandate of which does not include sting operations.”
The AGF also noted that there were numerous inconsistencies in the documents being circulated in relation to the saga and which buttressed elements of criminal activities.
“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 Minister noted that the AGF’s office has reached out to relevant authorities to investigate the actions for prosecution of perpetrators.
“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 AGF into issuing the search warrant was also forwarded to relevant investigation agencies to ascertain veracity or otherwise of the purported association of the AGF or any staff in the office.”
Also, a Port Harcourt-based constitutional lawyer, Chief Festus Oguche, described the raid as bizarre and a violation of the justice’s rights. “No matter the allegation, nothing furnishes a court of competence with the power to issue warrant for an allegation that is not defined.”
Oguche, therefore, blamed the assault on government’s determination to stifle the judiciary.
He said: “The first time, they hounded justices and judges at midnight in a manner that is akin to pursuit of armed robbers and treated them like hardened criminals.
“They are giving Nigerians another reason to be suspicious of their clandestine maneuvers to manipulate and hound the judiciary.” (Guardian)
