More trouble appears to be coming the way of ex-Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Abubakar Malami, SAN, as a group of Nigerian legislative lawyers, Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners, ALDRAP, has asked the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, to investigate and prosecute him over the controversial removal of former Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen.
Onnoghen was removed from office in the build-up to the 2019
general election by then-President Muhammadu Buhari. Malami was the Minister of
Justice and AGF at the time. The ex-CJN was subsequently charged and convicted
for assets declaration breaches by the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
The conviction was eventually reversed by the Court of
Appeal in November 2024. Malami’s role in the matter has been revisited by the
legislative lawyers, who termed his action as abuse of office.
In a petition dated February 3, 2026, signed by their
lawyer, S. O Abang, and addressed to the Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau,
Abuja, ALDRAP demanded that Malami be investigated for violating various
provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as well
as the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, 1991.
The legislative lawyers specially asked the CCB to
investigate Malami for allegedly “unlawfully and maliciously” removing the
ex-CJN Onnoghen, and his “malicious prosecution of Justice Nnamdi Dimigba”, as
well as “illegal gifts” allegedly received by the ex-AGF’s NGO, Khadimiyya for
Justice and Development Initiatives.
The alleged violations, according to the petition, occurred
during Malami’s time as Minister of Justice and AGF, under the administration
of late former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The petition alleged that Malami, as the AGF, abused the
discretion to prosecute and withdraw prosecution, as conferred upon him by
Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution.
“This is because he did not exercise this power for the
benefit of overriding public interest but rather for his own personal financial
and political benefits,” the petition said.
The petition named a Director of Investigation of the CCB as
“an eyewitness who can testify that Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, personally ordered
the Code of Conduct Bureau to stop the prosecution at the Code of Conduct
Tribunal of certain government officials even after the Code of Conduct Bureau
had established prima facie case against such government officials.
“Conversely, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, also abused the powers
conferred on him by his office as the former AGF and Minister of Justice by
approving and fast-tracking the investigation of certain government officials
by both the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Tribunal.
“This is based on the fact that the Code of Conduct Bureau
and Tribunal were administratively placed under the occupant of the office of
AGF and Minister of Justice.
“For example, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, abused his office and
abused Section 174 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999
(as amended) by using the said Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal to
unlawfully remove from office, the former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Hon.
Justice Walter Onnoghen, JSC, in the year 2019/2020,” parts of the petition
read.
The petition alleged that Malami, as AGF, “deployed similar
tactics” against Justice Nnamdi Dimigba of the Federal High Court.
The petition further noted that a concrete evidence of how
Malami violated sections 5, 10 and 11 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and
Tribunal Act, 1991, “is how he openly admitted that he received gifts of over
200 cars both personally and through his Incorporated Trustees named Khadimiyya
for Justice and Development Initiatives”.
Alleging more acts of abuse of office, the petition noted
that Alhaji Abubakar Usman Gotomo is the chairman of Incorporated Trustees
named Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiatives, an NGO focused on
humanitarian services and community development in Kebbi State. “In violation
of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
1999 (as amended), and Section 5 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal
Act, 1991, in the year 2019, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, approved the appointment
of the said Alhaji Abubakar Usman Gotomo as Chairman of the Governing Board of
the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP),”
the petition further alleged.
Malami was also alleged to have, in May 2022, admitted that
he received gifts of money and cars from friends and associates to support his
campaign to become the governor of Kebbi State, in violation of sections 10 and
11 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, 1991.
“The foregoing acts of Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, can be
classified as acts of abuse of office and misconduct because he assaulted the
Constitution of Nigeria and deployed and hijacked the Code of Conduct Bureau
and Tribunal to further his own personal, financial and political objectives,”
the petition added, stressing that Malami’s personal objectives were at
variance to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as
amended, and the stated objectives for establishment of the Code of Conduct Bureau
and Tribunal.
It is for the foregoing reasons that Mr Abubakar Malami,
SAN, ought to be investigated and prosecuted by your office,” the petitioners
informed the chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau.
Malami is currently being prosecuted by the Nigerian
government on separate charges of bordering on alleged money laundering and
terrorism financing.
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