The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has urged former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, to submit himself to investigation and address allegations of corruption and abuse of office rather than “distracting Nigerians with claims of bias and persecution.”
In a statement issued and signed by HEDA’s Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, the civil society organization reacted to Malami’s call for the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to step aside from an ongoing investigation involving him, describing the allegations of bias, vendetta and political persecution as an attempt to divert attention from substantive issues before the former Attorney General and Justice Minister.
Meanwhile, HEDA noted that Malami, during his tenure as Attorney-General, failed to release or gazette the report of the Justice Ayo Salami Judicial Commission of Inquiry, despite repeated public demands since the conclusion of the panels sitting. The anti-corruption organisation said the continued secrecy surrounding the report raises serious concerns about genuineness and credibility of both the panel and the government that constituted it.
The group also pointed out that several individuals who were invited by, or allegedly indicted by, the Salami panel have since advanced in their professional careers.
“Several individuals who were invited by Salami panel such as Ibrahim Magu, former Acting Chairman of the EFCC, returned to the Nigeria Police Force, rose to the rank of Assistant Inspector General, and retired honourably. Also, Barr. Rotimi Oyedepo became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and currently serving as Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.” Suraju noted.
According to HEDA, these developments reinforce widespread public perception that the panel was targeted at specific individuals rather than driven by genuine institutional reform. The organisation identified Ibrahim Magu, Rotimi Oyedepo and the current EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, who served as Secretary to the commission, as the principal targets of Malami and by extension the inquiry, at the time.
HEDA, the organisation behind the 2023 petition resulting in the investigation and subsequent arrest of Malami alleged that mission of the Salami panel was to target the trio: Magu for resisting interference from Malami in EFCC cases, Oyedepo for challenging the alleged abuse of prosecutorial powers through a nolle prosequi in a case that was filed by EFCC under the Fiat of Lagos Attorney General in a case involving Abebe, and Olukoyede for challenging Malami in the usurpation of the power of Commission’s Secretary in his illegal disposal of recovered stolen assets. The Federal High Court, Lagos Division, agreed with HEDA in its challenge of Malami’s issued asset management guidelines at the time and declared the guidelines illegal, null and void.
The organisation argued that following the removal of these individuals, the panel’s report was never released or gazetted, a development it said undermines Malami’s current reliance on the same process to support claims of persecution.
HEDA called on Malami to stop undermining anti-corruption institutions and allow lawful investigations to proceed, stressing that accountability must take precedence over political considerations or personal grievances.
