24th July, 2019
Distinguished Senator Ahmed Lawal, PhD
President of the Senate
Senate Chambers,
National Assembly complex,
Three Arms Zone,
Abuja.

His Excellency,

REJECTION OF THE NOMINATION OF ABUBAKAR MALAMI AS A RETURNING MINISTER OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
On behalf of the Civil society Coalition on Anticorruption committed to the fight against corruption and impunity in Nigeria, I write to request that the National Assembly rejects the nomination of Abubakar Malami, the former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), as a returning minister in the current administration and direct the anticorruption agencies to immediately probe the former AGF on allegations of gross abuse of office to the detriment of public interest.
The coalition, under the platform of Say No campaign, which is made up of Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre for Africa (PAACA), YIAGA AFRICA, Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA), The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Protest to Power (P2P), Keen and Care Initiative, Connected Development (CODE), Social Action, Action Aid, Yes Project, Lawyers Network Against Corruption (LAWNAC) conducted an exhaustive audit of the office of the then AGF, occupied by Mr. Malami, in April 2019, after several media reports of his unpatriotic actions and blatant abuse of office.
The outcome of the audit was made available to the President, in June, through a letter that was delivered directly to his office, detailing the shady actions of the AGF as against public interest; incongruent with the demands of his office and damaging to the nation’s highly regarded fight against corruption. We further demanded, among others, for an immediate sack of the AGF and a directive for the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Malami for grossly abusing his office, undermining public interest in his service as the AGF and minister of Justice.



An excerpt from the letter detailing our concerns about Mr. Malami’s dishonourable conducts reads:
Mr President may wish to be reminded about these, as just representative of the many other scandals under Mr Malami’s watch:

1. A case in point is the Malabu scandal involving former Oil Minister Dan Etete, Eni and Shell in a heist allegedly resulting in a loss of more than $US1billion to Nigeria. The minister has done everything, including writing legal advise against taking the matter to the court.
2. Nigerians have not forgotten the minister’s role in the fraudulent reinstatement of former chairman of Pension Task Force, Abdulrasheed Maina who was wanted on allegations of corruption, into the federal civil service.
3. The shady deal involving the minister which led to the approval for payment of a highly controversial and contentious payment of $17 million to two lawyers for an already concluded deal on the repatriation of the Abacha loot from the Swiss Bank. There are many reported cases of undue meddling and interference by the attorney general to gag and muzzle the anticorruption agencies and force discontinuation of investigations and prosecutions of high profile government officials.
4. The minister has also been fingered in the suspected attempt to frustrate the investigation and prosecution of the Director General of the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission for his alleged involvement of diversion of about N2.5 Billion. Most crucially, Mr. Malami has superintended a systematic strategy of frustrating the freedom of information law.
5. Under his leadership, government agencies have found cover and a new boldness to ignore and/or outright treat, with impunity, the many FOI requests in order to frustrate any accountability effort by concerned public. Going by the record of its hall of shame and fame program, the Media Rights Agenda, a leading civil society organization at the forefront of strengthening application and compliance with the freedom of information of law, a significant number of federal agencies have been hauled into the hall of shame for the blatant refusal to respect FOI requests. These persist, while the Minister continues to present himself as chief in frustrating the fight against corruption and civil society’s effort for accountability.



Your Excellency, these gross misconducts, in one of the most critical office of the federation, should not be swept under the carpet for a country that is ravaged by corruption and as a result, pioneering a fight against the menace. Nominating this personality to return as a Minister of the federal republic of Nigeria rather than issuing a directive for a thorough investigation and prosecution has ridiculed the president’s purported zest to fight corruption, however, confirming the same personality, will not just constitute a disservice to the nation or tarnish the country’s image in the global anticorruption scheme of affairs, but will also dampen the morale of the Nigerian populace and their fragile hope in this 9th Assembly to represent the interest of the great people of Nigeria. We hope that this distinguish senate under your leadership will reject any plot to promote personal interests above the interest of the nation.
It is on the strength of these allegations that we implore this hallowed chambers to, in good faith, consider these allegations vis a vis their grave implications, and forestall the impending danger that comes with confirming an individual with such antecedents to become a Minister of this great country. We therefore urge the Nigerian senate to out-rightly reject the nomination of Mr. Abubakar Malami as an Honourable minister of the federation, as the damaging effect on the already suffering reputation of our country will be irreparable.
We appeal to your good conscience to consider the trust bequeathed you by the good people of this country and once again reassure Nigerians of your commitment to serve with integrity and the fear of God in delivering good governance to the people. We believe in the leadership of the 9th Assembly to make impartial decisions that can transform the polity.
We urge the senate to seize this singular opportunity to write its name in gold by not enabling corrupt personalities or ignoring weighty allegations of corruption and abuse of public office. May posterity be kind to you.
While we congratulate Your Excellency on your elevation and all distinguished senators, for securing a four year of active service, we assure you of our unreserved support, as we build a nation we all can be proud of.
God bless Nigeria, God bless the Good people of Nigeria!
Please accept the assurances of the coalition highest regards.

Sincerely,
Ezenwa Nwagwu,
Executive Director- PAACA

CC:
Distinguished Senator Obarisi Ovie Omo-Agege
Deputy Senate President


APPENDIX
Letter to President Mohammadu Buhari: Consolidating on the Fight against Corruption and the need for a more Credible, Patriotic Attorney General of the Federation

Won't fly