Why I disobeyed some court orders —Ministerial nominee, Malami SAN

The immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar
Malami (SAN), has said, he deliberately disobeys some court orders
in the interest of the public.

Malami said this while responding to a question by the Senate
Minority Leader, Eyinnaya Abaribe, at the ongoing ministerial
screening.

The senior advocate was asked why he decides to disobey court
orders by refusing to release persons who have been granted bail by
competent courts of jurisdiction.

In his reaction, however, Malami said his duty to protect the
overall rights of Nigerians overrides the need to respect
individual liberties.

The former AGF said indeed Sections 36, 37 and 39 demand the
respect for individual liberty but argued that such rights are not
absolute.

He subsequently cited a Supreme Court ruling on the Federal
Republic of Nigeria VS Asari Dokubo.

The former AGF said, “I concede that I have a responsibility as
AGF to protect individual rights but looking at the provisions of
Section 174 of the constitution, I want to state further that the
Office of the AGF is meant to protect public interest and where the
individual interests conflicts with the public interest of 180
million Nigerians that are interested in having this country
integrated must naturally prevail and I think that position has
been stated by the apex court in the case of Asari Dokubo Vs
Federal Republic of Nigeria that when an individual interest
conflicts with public interest, the public interest will naturally
prevail.”

Malami’s response, however, did not go down well with a section
of the Senate that insisted that the constitution remains
supreme.

In Malami’s defence, however, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, who
also hails from Malami’s home state of Kebbi, said the former AGF
had answered the questions brilliantly and asked that he allowed to
“take a bow”.

Na’Allah argued that other former ministers of President
Muhammadu Buhari had not been grilled for up to an hour before and
yet Malami was being treated unfairly.

The Senate President, who agreed with Na’Allah, said Malami had
answered the questions brilliantly and should be asked to go.

He subsequently asked the former AGF to take a bow after putting
the question to a voice vote.

The AGF has come under serious rebuke by several rights groups
both locally and internationally for his failure to obey court
orders.

The leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem
El-Zakzaky; as well as a former National Security Adviser, Col.
Sambo Dasuki (retd.), are some of the persons who have remained in
custody for over three years despite being granted bail by
courts.

Incidentally, Malami’s position corresponds with that of
President Muhammadu Buhari who said at the Nigerian Bar Association
conference last year that rule of law can be suspended for the sake
of national security.

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