Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has said the court processes leading to the security operatives’ invasion of the Abuja residence of a Justice of the Supreme Court, Mary Odili, on Friday, has criminal overtones.
Malami said this in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Umar Gwandu, on Saturday to deny his involvement in the raid.
Gwandu, had earlier denied the minister’s involvement in the raid in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES, citing irregularities in the documents filed before a magistrate’s court in Abuja to obtain a search warrant which the invading security operatives tried to execute at Odili’s home on Friday.
Elaborating on the alleged irregularities in a statement on Saturday, Gwandu maintained that there was no unit like the ‘Joint Panel Recovery’ which was said to have applied for the search warrant in the Federal Ministry of Justice.
“What we have is ‘Assets Recovery and Management Unit’ the mandate of which does not include stings operations,” the statement said.
It said numerous “incongruities” in the documents circulated in relation to the saga “revealed traces of criminal actions”.
Among others he cited alleged incongruities in the documents, was the name on the letterhead – ‘Ghost’s Account For Local Whistle Blowers & Assets Tax Recovery Panel’.
He also pointed out alleged “ambiguous reference to ‘Ministry of Justice’ without clarifying as to whether it is Federal or State Ministry and of which state’.
He added that office address on the letterhead “is not the address of the Federal Ministry of Justice”.
He also counted the e-mail address on the letter as part of the irregularities showing the document had nothing to do with the AGF office.
“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 statement said.
Investigations
Malami also indicated that he had reached out to police authorities to intensify investigations and prosecute those involved in the matter.
“The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has since reached out to the relevant authorities for an intensified wider investigation on the matter for necessary actions leading to the prosecution of anyone involved in the matter in view of the fact that the only names on record from the process filed in court are a purported police officer who claimed to be “O/C Assets Recovery Team” and one Aliyu Umar a deponent in the affidavit,” the statement added.
Security operatives invaded Odili’s home in Maitama, an upscale part of Abuja, on Friday.
Both the State Security Service (SSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had denied being part of the raid.
The invasion brought back to mind the SSS operatives’ invasion of homes of various judges, including those of two Justices of the apex court, in 2015.
The two Supreme Court justices were Sylvester Ngwuta (now deceased), and John Okoro. A home of a now retired judge of the Federal High Court, Adeniyi Ademola, was also invaded.
Both Ngwuta and Ademola were prosecuted by the AGF office, but the cases were struck out by the trial courts in the end.
PT
