A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Thursday, rejected a bail request of the immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, (SAN), seeking to compel the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to release him from its detention facility.
Malami, had through his team of lawyers led by Dr Suliaman Hassan, (SAN), prayed the court to order the EFCC to release him on bail, which he claimed was unlawful and unconstitutional.
He prayed the court to enforce his fundamental human rights by directing the EFCC to release him forthwith from its custody.
Malami had insisted that his bail was arbitrarily revoked after he attended a political rally in his home state of Kebbi, but the EFCC refuted the claim, insisting he failed to perfect the bail conditions.
The former AGF had earlier linked his problem to both his membership of a coalition of political parties opposed to the government in power and a report of an investigation that was done while he was in office as the AGF, which he claimed indicted the current Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede.
The anti graft agency, through its own legal team led by Chief Jubrin Okutepa (SAN), raised objection to the bail application countered the application.
Okutepa urged the court to dismiss the application for bail for lacking in merit.
The EFCC described itself as a law-abiding institution, stressing that it would not hold a suspect in custody beyond the constitutionally allowed time frame without an order of the court.
According to Okutepa, the former AGF’s detention was based on a valid and subsisting order that was issued by Justice Sylvanus Oriji of the FCT High Court.
Justice Babangida Hassan, said Malami’s bail application lacks merit.
The court opined that no evidence was placed before it to establish that the former AGF was being held in detention illegally.
Taking cognizance of the remand order issued against the applicant, Justice Hassan held: “Asking this court to grant this application is tantamount to inviting the court to sit as an appellate court over an application granted by a court of coordinate jurisdiction, which this court has no power to do.”
Malami, who has spent over than 9 days in custody, is being investigated over accusations against him, among which are alleged financial malfeasance regarding the utilisation of recovered loot, as well as his reported links to terrorism financing.
Malami is being accused of operating suspicious bank accounts.
He was on November 28, granted bail by the EFCC, but was later detained on December 8, after he reported to the agency for further interrogation.
