The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) has denied involvement in the invasion of Justice of the Supreme Court, Mary Odili, by EFCC officials.
Crystal News recalls that the Abuja residence of Justice Odili was allegedly invaded officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday night.
Malami while reacting to the invasion on Saturday distanced himself from the reported that he gave the order.
A statement by his Special Assistant, Media and Public Relations, Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, said the clarification became imperative in view of the media hype and the dimension the story had taken.
He said, “It is important to set the record straight that as the Chief Law Officer of the federation, Malami will not stoop too low to be associated with an apparent in-elegant and nasty court process on the strength of which the purported search warrant was procured.
“The media reports on the issue depict too untidy process that could never emanate from the Office of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.”
He said the general public needs to know that there was nothing called Joint Panel Recovery Under the Ministry of Justice in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and by extension the entire Federal Ministry of Justice.
“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 claim of the Chief Magistrate as reported by a section of the media to the effect that he was being misled by office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice into the issuance of the search warrant is equally forwarded to the relevant investigation agencies to ascertain veracity or otherwise of the purported association of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and which officer if any in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is associated with such claimed misrepresentation.”
Did Not Carry Out Any Operation in Justice Odili’s Home-EFCC
Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says none of the officers of the commission carried out an operation in Justice Odili’s home.
EFCC broke the silence via a press statement titled “EFCC Did Not Carry Out Any Operation in Justice Odili’s Home” and signed by the Head Media & Publicity, of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren.
The statement reads, “The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been drawn to claims in a section of the media that operatives of the Commission today, October 29, 2021 stormed the Maitama, Abuja home of a Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Mary Odili, purportedly to execute a search.
“The Commission by this statement wishes to inform the public that the report is false as it did not carry out any operation at the home of Justice Odili.
“If there was any such operation as claimed by the media, it was not carried out by the EFCC. The Commission enjoins the public to discountenance the report.”
