The immediate past Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, will on June 14 face the
Disciplinary Panel the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee
over a prejudicial statement made against the detained former
National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
The Hearing Notice obtained by PRNigeria which was signed by
Patricia Orhomuru Esq, the Secretary Disciplinary Committee of the
Legal Practitioners’ Privilege Committee has a reference No:
PET/LPPC/23/2018 and dated May 16, 2019.
The notice read in part: “Take notice that the above matter is
fixed for hearing by the Disciplinary Committee of the Legal
Practitioner Privileged Committee of the Office of Registrar
Supreme Court of Nigeria Abuja on June 14, 2019, at 11.00 o’clock
in the forenoon.
Mr Malami is expected to face the panel for investigation in a
statement credited to him in the Voice of America (VOA) Hausa
Service on July 13, 2018, in which he was quoted that Mr Dasuki
would not be released despite all subsisting court orders for his
release on bails.
In the audio recording of the interview he granted VOA, Mr
Malami had accused Mr Dasuki of being responsible for the deaths of
over 100,000 Nigerians during Jonathan’s era.
In the interview, Mr Malami had said; “Remember, we are talking
about a person who was instrumental to the deaths of over 100,000
people. Are you saying that the rights of one person are more
important than that of 100,000 who lost their lives?”
A Notice of hearing in the petition filed byMr Dasuki’s family
against former AGF indicated that Mr Malami would be interrogated
by the committee of the Legal Practitioners at the Office of the
Chief Registrar, Supreme Court of Nigeria, Abuja.
The Dasuki family had petitioned the Nigerian Bar Association
(NBA) praying for an investigation and sanction of the minister
over his unprofessional conducts and utter disregard to the rule of
law likely to cause anarchy in the country through his promotion of
disobedience to the lawful order of court by the federal
government.
In the petition dated July 23, 2008, and received by the NBA the
same day, the family wanted Mr Malami to be investigated in the
resolve of the federal government not to comply with any order of
court admitting the former NSA to bail and has been unjustly
detained for almost four years.
Recalling how their son served Nigeria for 21 years as an
officer in the Nigerian Army; Managing Director Nigeria Security
Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) and later as National Security
Adviser to the immediate past administration, they stated that Mr
Dasuki in his lifetime has not been convicted of any crime till
date.
The petition signed by his wife, Bintu Dasuki; his son, Abubakar
Dasuki and his nephew, Umar Dahiru explained how the ordeal of Mr
Dasuki started when Buhari’s government came on board with the
invasion of his houses in Abuja and Sokoto during which his vital
properties including vehicles were carted away by the operatives of
the Department of State Security Service (DSS).
The petition also chronicled how Mr Dasuki was arraigned before
four different High Courts and was granted bail by all the judges
claiming that the charges were bailable offences under the Nigerian
law. They also added that the Court of Justice of the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) declared the detention of
Mr Dasuki as unlawful, null and void and subsequently ordered his
immediate release in addition to imposing a fine of N15m on the
federal government as compensation for the breach of Dasuki’s
fundamental rights.
The family regretted that up till date, none of the orders of
the high courts and the international court was obeyed by the
federal government. The petition noted the latest judgement of
Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu on the Federal High Court which on July 2,
2018, admitted Mr Dasuki to bail upon discovery that his detention
was a breach of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
and that of the fundamental right of the Ex-NSA.
The Dasuki family claimed that upon meeting the bail condition,
the warrant of release of Mr Dasuki on bail signed by the Court was
served on the Director General of the SSS and the attorney-general
for their compliance with the order of the court.
The family, however, informed the NBA in the petition that
rather than complying with the order of the court, the AGF as the
Chief Law Officer of the Federation made remarks that the order of
the court as relates to Mr Dasuki would not be obeyed by the
federal government. The family wondered whether a lawyer let alone
a Senior Advocate of Nigeria ought to have engaged in such an
unprofessional utterance that are capable of causing anarchy for
the nation.
The NBA was prayed to invoke laws on Code of Ethics on
professional code of ethics against Malami, investigate him and
impose deserved disciplinary sanctions against him in order to
safeguard the rule of law for the country.
The family lamented that Mr Malami’s statement was prejudiced,
unwarranted and unbecoming of a legal practitioner adding that
imposing sanctions against Mr Malami will make other Nigerians to
respect the rule of law. The family also asked the NBA to intervene
in the ordeal of Mr Dasuki and speak out and take decisions and
actions that will compel the federal government to respect the rule
of law and obey the order of the court that admitted him to lawful
bail.