ATTORNEY-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, (SAN), has challenged persons behind reports that he received a bribe from Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to present the evidence to the security and law enforcement agencies for investigation and possible prosecution if the allegation is found to be true.

Akpabio has been alleged of ‎giving $5million bribe to Malami and some other unnamed influential persons to facilitate the appointment of a sole administrator for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The sole administrator in question, Effiong Akwa, hails from Akwa Ibom State, where Akpabio served as governor for two terms, from 2007 to 2015.
The AGF denied the allegation that he received gratification from the minister in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Dr Umar Gwandu.

However, the statement said the AGF challenged those behind the allegation to present evidence of the alleged bribery to security and law enforcement agencies.

“He (Malami), accordingly, encouraged the purveyors of the fictitious publication to approach relevant security and law enforcement agencies ‎and proffer information that could lead to the criminal investigation against him if they feel strongly about their purported claim,” the statement said.
But checks by The ICIR show that should the security and law enforce‎ment agencies investigate the matter and decide to prosecute Malami, he (Malami) will be the one to determine whether the case should be prosecuted, by virtue of his position as the Attorney-General of the Federation.

Also, in the event that it was decided that the matter should be prosecuted, Malami, as the AGF, would also supervise the prosecution.
Provisions of the 1999 Constitution, and the ‎Administration of Criminal Justice Act, gave the Attorney-General of the Federation, or any legal practioner authorised by him, the powers to undertake prosecution of all offences in court.

Also, the Nigeria Police Force (Establishment) Act, 2020, which came into force on September 17, 2020, also gave the Attorney-General of the Federation powers to ‎determine the fate of criminal prosecutions in the country.

Not only does the AGF ‎have the power to institute, take over and continue criminal proceedings, he could also discontinue prosecutions.
‎Section 66 (1) of the Police Act, 2020, ‎stated, “Subject to the provisions of section 174 and 211 of the Constitution and section 106 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act which relates to the powers of the Attorney-General of the Federation and of a state to institute, take over and continue or discontinue criminal proceedings against any person before any court of law in Nigeria, a police officer who is a legal practitioner, may prosecute in person before any court whether or not the information or complaint is laid in his name.”

The law also required the police and other security and law enforcement agencies to make quarterly reports of all arrests made in relation to federal offences to the Attorney-General of the Federation.

Specifically, section 47(1) of the Police Act, 2020, stated that “The Inspector-General of Police and head of every agency authorised by law to make arrests shall remit quarterly to the Attorney-General of the Federation a record of all arrests made with or without warrant in relation to federal offences within Nigeria.”

‎Section 47(5) of the Police Act, 2020, empowered the AGF to establish an electronic and manual database of all arrests at the federal and state levels.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/bribe-allegation-malami-dares-critics-to-report-him-to-security-agencies-but-as-agf-he-supervises-prosecution/

am beginning to suspect this malami ooo