Breaking: Docked Former Buhari's Minister Asks EFCC Chairman to Step Aside, Gives Reason
- Former President Muhammadu Buhari's minister of justice and AGF, Abubakar Malami, has called on the current chairman of the EFCC to recuse himself from his investigation
Abubakar Malami, the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice under the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari, has asked for the resignation of the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to step aside from his ongoing investigation.
The former cabinet member alleged that the anti-graft agency's boss was biased, and that the investigation of him was a personal vendetta and political prosecution, which is associated with his recent defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Source: Twitter
The Punch reported that Malami made the call in a press statement released by his media aide, Muhammad Doka, on Monday, December 15. He said that the agency was carrying out an investigation that can be compared to “illegal detention, media harassment and procedural abuse.”
He insisted that the probing of his time in office was not influenced by law enforcement consideration but by “deep-seated historical animosity” on the side of the leadership of the EFCC. The former minister added that he has "been clearly pre-judged and cannot receive a fair, objective or lawful investigation under the current leadership of the EFCC.”
Malami anchored his argument on the event that dated back to his time in office as the AGF, when the Justice Ayo Salami Judicial Commission of Inquiry was constituted by the federal government to probe the allegation of corruption and the abuse of office within the anti-graft agency.
The former minister explained that the current chairman of the EFCC was the secretary of the commission and that he was indicted in the Salami Report, which is now in the public domain.
He then concluded that on such a basis, the current chairman of the EFCC should step aside from his probing and called on the Attorney General of the Federation to intervene in the matter. He warned that the failure to take action could lead to serious institutional damage.
Malami is one of the former ministers who served under the administration of Buhari and is being investigated by the anti-graft agency. Other members of Buhari's cabinet who are under the EFCC investigation include Chris Ngige and Timipre Sylva, the former ministers of labour and state for petroleum resources.
Source: Legit.ng
