The Prof. Itse Sagay-led Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), on Wednesday, has alleged that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), was having a well-known link with the abortion of high-profile criminal cases in favor of major political and government figures.
The PACAC, in a statement signed by Sagay, and released by the communication unit of the committee, disclosed this in its reaction to the proposed bill for the amendment of the establishment Act of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The committee argued that the proposed amendment of the Act was part of “an ongoing very sinister and dangerous attempt to demolish the anti-corruption infrastructure of Nigeria and return it to the situation it was in during the dark days before 2015,” the panel urged Nigerians and the National Assembly to reject it.
Sagay went further that those behind the amendment “are the representatives of the corrupt establishment that brought this country to its knees and subjected us to humiliation as a result of an extremely negative reputation internationally.”
The co0ntroversial bill is set to weaken the EFCC and its officials, while it will confer enormous power of control of the anti-graft agency on the office of the AGF.
Though Malami was not mentioned as a sponsor of the controversial bill, but he alleged that the minister is linked with the abortion of high criminal cases in favor of major political and government figures.
He added that the draft bill, which intended to repeal the EFCC Establishment Act, 2004, was being sponsored by those who were “too ashamed to put their names to the draft bill being circulated.”
Remember that Malami whose letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, triggered the ongoing probe of the suspended acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, by the Justice Ayo Salami-led panel over various allegations of corruption, abuse of office and insubordination, has been linked to the controversial bill by the media.
Malami has neither confirmed nor denied the rumor.
Making various references to the bill, Sagay noted that it would eliminate the anti-graft agency’s “freedom and autonomy” and replace it with “an entity under the complete control of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General.”
He also said that the proposed bill would effectively turn the commission into a department in the Federal Ministry of Justice.
The statement read in part, “With all the above-established facts, the gravity of the proposed change becomes overwhelming.
“When in addition to all this, we recall the well-known proclivity of the attorney-general for entering nolle procequi in favour of major political and governmental figures, this move to effectively scrap the EFCC becomes more alarming.
“We, therefore, call on the National Assembly and all Nigerians to vigorously reject this attempt to perpetrate a fraud on the nation by effectively scuttling the EFCC and shutting down Nigeria’s anti-corruption war.”
According to Sagay, the offensive highlights of the bill included, “the repeal of the current EFCC Establishment Act, which has been a spectacular success and has brought Nigeria into limelight as a major force against corruption.”
He noted that the bill proposed the scrapping of the commission and replacing it with a weak agency, which would turn out to be a department in a Federal Ministry of Justice under the AGF.
Sagay listed the weaknesses in the proposed bill to include, “The replacement of the Executive Chairman of the EFCC with a director-general, who is effective to be appointed by the attorney-general eliminates the EFCC’s freedom and autonomy, and replaces it with an entity under the complete control of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General.”
