Prosecute Malami despite his crocodile tears, human rights lawyer, Adeyanju urges EFCC

Human rights lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to go ahead with the investigation and prosecution of former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, despite what his attempts to attract public sympathy.

Adeyanju, in a statement on Monday, faulted Malami’s claim that the EFCC is walking on the political vendetta path, describing the allegation as baseless and regrettable.

“The comment of the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, alleging that the EFCC is on a political vendetta and therefore lacks the competence to investigate him is unfortunate,” he said.

He maintained that the anti-graft agency has a duty to investigate Malami’s conduct while in office, particularly matters relating to recovered public funds.

“The EFCC should proceed without hesitation to investigate Mr. Malami, particularly in relation to his stewardship while in office of all issues surrounding the Abacha loot,” Adeyanju stated.

The activist stressed that holding public office comes with responsibility and accountability, insisting that no individual should be above scrutiny.

“Public office is a trust, and all past and present public officials must be prepared to give a full account of how that trust was exercised,” he said.

Adeyanju further argued that Malami’s record while in government does not support his current posture, noting that the former minister readily deployed state power against others.

“Malami showed no restraint while in government and wielded state power against everyone including members of the opposition. Having subjected others to prosecution, he cannot now escape from the same process,” he added.

It could be recalled that Malami, SAN, demanded that the EFCC either arraign him before a court of competent jurisdiction or release him within 24 hours, citing constitutional provisions against unlawful detention.

Malami made the demand in a release issued on Monday by his media aide, Muhammad Doka, in which he also called for the immediate recusal of the Chairman of the EFCC from the ongoing investigation against him, alleging bias, personal vendetta and political persecution linked to his recent defection to the African Democratic Congress.

According to the statement, the former justice minister accused the anti-graft agency of subjecting him to what he described as an “illegal detention, media harassment and procedural abuse,” insisting that the investigation was not driven by law enforcement considerations but by “deep-seated historical animosity” on the part of the EFCC leadership.

“I have been clearly pre-judged and cannot receive a fair, objective or lawful investigation under the current leadership of the EFCC,” Malami had said.

He had anchored his claims on events dating back to his tenure as Attorney-General of the Federation, when the Federal Government constituted the Justice Ayo Salami Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of office within the EFCC.