Kabir Akingbolu, a human rights
lawyer, says Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), risks
five years in prison for “illegally” approving the auctioning of sea vessels
holding crude oil and diesel seized by the federal government.
Malami was reported to have given
approval for the sale of the oil assets valued at millions of naira and seized
by security agencies over illegal oil bunkering.
He was said to have directed
Omoh-Jay Nigeria Ltd, an oil firm, to auction the crude oil and diesel in four
sea vessels despite the firm being tried for allegedly stealing about 12,000
metric tonnes of crude oil in 2009.
In his defence, Malami said he
committed no illegality in approving the auction.
The minister said by virtue of
Section 36 (5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Omoh-Jay Nigeria Ltd which is a duly registered company can participate in the
auction bidding process since it is yet to be found guilty for the allegations
for which it is standing trial.
However, in a statement on
Monday, Akingbolu said Malami acted beyond his powers when he independently
gave approval for auctioning without the authorisation of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He said section 31 (4) of the
EFCC Act gives powers to the AGF to only make rules for the disposal of seized
assets to ensure that the power of sale is not abused by the EFCC.
“To further expose the anomalies
and administrative recklessness of Malami, may I invite him on a short
excursion into section 31 (2) and (4) of the Economic Financial Crimes
Commission (Establishment) Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, which
is the enabling Act, under which he purportedly acted,” he said.
“It is submitted that the AGF
does not have such power either under section 174 of the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria or under the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (Establishment) Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
“For the purpose of elucidation
and contrary to the highly misguided position of the AGF, section 31 (2) of the
EFCC Act states that upon receipt of a final order pursuant to this section,
the secretary to the commission shall take steps to dispose of the property
concerned by sale or otherwise and where the property is sold, the proceeds
thereof shall be paid into the consolidated revenue fund of the federation.
“In order to ensure that the
power of sale of confiscated properties is not abused by the EFCC, the AGF is
authorized by section 31 (4) of the EFCC Act to ‘make rules or regulations for
the disposal or sale of any property or assets forfeited pursuant to this Act.’
But instead of making the ‘rules or regulations’ to guide the EFCC in the sale
of confiscated properties, the AGF decided to appoint contractors including a
criminal suspect to dispose of confiscated properties.”
He added that the AGF who
represents the state is supposed to try to prove the guilt of the accused
(Omoh-Jay Nigeria Ltd) rather, he is acting “as the mouthpiece of the suspect
by singing the mantra of presumption of innocence for an accused.”
Akingbolu said since the AGF has
admitted that he personally authorised the sale of confiscated properties
without the authorisation of the EFCC, he has “committed an offence under
section 32 (1) of the EFCC Act” and is “liable on conviction to imprisonment
for a term of five years without the option of a fine.”
He urged President Muhammadu
Buhari to order the inspector general of police to arrest Malami.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com