Attorney general of the federation and minister of justice Abubakar Malami has denied involvement in the search at the home of Supreme Court judge Justice Mary Odili, saying he has ordered investigation into the incident.
Reports had said operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission raided Justice Odili’s house, but the commission has refuted it.
Mr Malami, in a press statement on Saturday signed by his media aide Umar Gwandu, said he has ordered the investigation of the officers involved in the operation, insisting that the purported warrant that was issued for Odili’s Abuja residence to be searched has “criminal undertones.”
“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 statement read.
“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.
“The general public need 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.
“What we have is ‘Assets Recovery and Management Unit’ the mandate of which does not include stings operations.”
Malami said the documents being circulated with claims that he was involved were fabricated.
“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,” the statement further read.
