5 reasons why Buhari should fire the Minister of Justice

Malami

As the government of Muhammadu Buhari is about to clock one year in office, his strengths, weaknesses and shortcomings as well as that of his appointed officers would be thoroughly and vigorously reviewed by all and sundry.

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) , a civil rights group has taken upon itself the onus of reviewing the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami since he assumed office.

Verdict: He was found terribly wanting and incompetent.

To this effect, the group wrote a letter to the president, asking him to immediately fire the minister if he really means business for his government.

Here are 5 reasons why Malami should be sacked.

  1. Malami stalled the prosecution of alleged forgers in the senate

“According to Punch Newspaper report of Monday May 9, 2016, page 2,”the legal advice with reference number DPPA/ADV/258/15 recommended that some suspects be prosecuted for criminal conspiracy, forgery, breach of official trust and unlawful assembly”.

“The Minister of Justice, since the assumption of office has consciously and deliberately refused to give effect to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) advice. According to the same newspaper report, Mr. Malami promised Nigerians a decision on this matter within a week as at 2nd of January, 2016 but failed to do anything. It has taken the indicting report of Punch Newspaper in reference for the Attorney General to issue an ultimatum to both Police and DPP’s office for necessary action.”

2. Malami negotiated with MTN without NCC consent on fine

“Again, your Excellency will recall the unnecessary and unwarranted controversy that surrounded the subterranean role of the Minister in the Nigerian Communication Commission NCC fine against the MTN. The Minister was accused of meeting and reaching agreements with MTN without involvement or representatives from the NCC.

“The Attorney General was publicly accused of meeting, negotiating, agreeing terms and collecting N50 billion on behalf of the government without recourse to both the regulatory agency and supervisory ministry. Local and international criticisms greeted the unprofessional conduct of the Minister and secrecy associated with his negotiation with MTN.”

3. The AGF disrupted Kogi House of Assembly

“Also, the Federal House of Representatives had within its Constitutional Mandate, ordered the Inspector General of Police to seal the Kogi State of House of Assembly, so as to forestall further breakdown of law and order in the crisis bedeviled Parliament.

“In a suspicious move and conspiracy between the IGP and Attorney General, an advice of was sorted from AGF by the IGP, leading to the AGF directing the IGP otherwise, almost setting the tone for unnecessary conflict between the Executive and Legislative arms of government.

“But for the maturity of the timely intervention of the House Representatives, the crisis of Kogi State House of Assembly could have degenerated to fracas similar to Rivers State House of Assembly in 2016.”

 

4. Malami imposed himself on INEC

“Again, contrary to constitutional provision on the Independence of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr. Malami eroded that constitutionally guaranteed independence by dictating to INEC on the constitutional challenge arising from the sudden death of Kogi State gubernatorial candidate, Abubakar Audu. That meddlesomeness attracted wide condemnation from observers and opposition parties.”

 

5. The Minister of Justice worked with and violated the terms of contract with an ex-convict

“The Minister, on behalf of the government engaged the service and allegedly violated the terms of agreement with an ex-convict, Mr. Georg Uboh. You (President Buhari) were reported to have queried the Attorney General over this transaction, in which the Minister was accused of underhand dealings, conspiracy and corruption.

“Meanwhile, it is surprising to read the Attorney General claiming ignorance of Mr. Uboh’s criminal background. His office supervises anti-corruption agencies in the country and could have extracted criminal records of any person or organisation.”

And it’s barely one year since he was appointed by the President.

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