A businessman, Cecil Osakwe, has told an FCT High Court that he sued former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to correct the conduct of public officers using their office to pursue personal interest.
Osakwe, in the suit before the court, is demanding the sum of N1 billion in damages over the dispute involving one of his properties for sale.
Speaking through his lawyer, Victor Giwa, Osakwe said he sued Malami both in his official and personal capacity.
“This case is very important to the claimant, with this case, we need to send message to public officers that they cannot use their office to pursue personal interest,” Giwa said.
He said the suit was important to him said the bailiff of the court was mobilized to serve the processes on all the parties in the matter.
However, at the resumed hearing of the suit, Malami, the second respondent was not represented in court despite service of the processes by the bailiff.
In his response, counsel to Asabe Waziri, first respondent in the matter, C.J. Abengowe, said the case was supposed to be for hearing but since Malami was not represented in court, the case cannot be heard.
Osakwe had accused Malami of forcing him to hand over two units of three-bedroom flats in one of his properties situated in Mekong Close, Maitama, Abuja to a staff of Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, despite a court order.
Justice Oluyemisi Adelaja set October 17 for the hearing of the suit.
