A Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court on Thursday dismissed summons for bail filed by former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Salami, SAN, against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Malami, through his counsel, Dr. Suliaman Hassan, SAN, had approached the court seeking bail from the custody of the EFCC. He argued that his detention by the Commission in its ongoing investigation, was illegal.
However, counsel to the EFCC, Chief J.S. Okutepa, SAN, submitted that the EFCC was holding the former Minister through a valid Remand Order obtained at an FCT High Court granted by Justice S. C Oriji.
Okutpa also affirmed that the EFCC was a law-abiding Commission that would not detain a suspect beyond the lawful period without an order of the court.
While ruling in the bail application, Justice Babangida Hassan held, quoting Section 35 of the Constitution, that since there was a provision in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, for detention, Malami was lawfully detained by the Remand Order of the court.
“Asking this court to grant this application is tantamount to inviting the court to sit as an appellate court over an application made by a court of coordinate jurisdiction which the court has no power to do”, he said.
EFCC had detained Malami over issues relating to money laundering, operation of suspicious accounts and alleged mishandling of Abacha loot recovered from Switzerland and Island of Jersey in the UK.
”Presently, we are investigating him for 18 different offences. Some of them are money laundering, abuse of office and terrorism financing.
”We cannot put a figure to the amount involved now because we keep uncovering some of the deals as we investigate,” according to a source.
But Malami had insisted that allegations against him were “fabricated.”
”For the avoidance of doubt, my public record in office stands in direct contradiction to any insinuation of complicity in terrorism financing.
”During my tenure as Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, I worked with other arms of government and relevant institutions to strengthen—not weaken—Nigeria’s legal and institutional framework against money laundering and the financing of terrorism,” he said. -(NAN)
Source; PM News