The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami failed to defend President Buhari’s 1983 coup and call for revolution in 2011 but justified charging Omoyele Sowore with treason and insulting the President when quizzed about the continous detention of the #RevolutionNow convener.
In a “Focus on Africa” BBC interview, the AGF was questioned on the motive of detaining Omoyele Sowore over the call for revolution.
In response he said “We have at hand a situation whereby someone that contested election and lost and is eventually calling on revolution and change of government through means other (than what) the constitution recognizes. And to our (the government’s) mind, that constitutes a treasonable felony.”
When reminded that it was hypocritical for President Buhari who led a military coup in 1983 and also called for a revolution in 2011 to take offence in same, he flinched with his eyes closed before insisting that he could only talk about Mr Sowore’s case.
“As the Attorney-General of the Federation, the issue before me is that of Sowore” he said.
Upon being told that the media personality and former Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) never called for a violent overthrow of government, Malami stated that calling for a revolution amounts to treasonable felony as far as he was concerned.
“As far as I’m concerned,” came Mr Malami’s response, “treason is treason. If there is a case for treason, you have, as a matter of obligation and right, to present a case before the government.
“What we have done is to present our case before the judiciary which enjoys independence and freedom to determine one thing or the other.
“Not that we have taken the laws in our hand by adjudging him guilty but by presenting him before judicial process so that he could be accorded the opportunity to present a counter case,” Mr Malami said.
In the interview he sat for on Wednesday September 25, AGF Abubakar Malami also justified the mass murder of Shiites and the detention of journalist Jones Abiri and Abah Jalingo.
He affirmed that those counter-actions were carried out because they probably called for a change the government without the constitutionally recognised means which is an election.
However despite being granted bail by an Abuja Federal High Court on Tuesday September 25, Omoyele Sowore is yet to be released by the Department of State Services (DSS).
