The immediate past Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN, will on June 14, 2019 face the Disciplinary Panel the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) over a prejudicial statement made against the detained former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd).
The Hearing Notice obtained on Sunday by PRNigeria and signed by Patricia Orhomuru Esq, the Secretary, LPPC Disciplinary Committee has reference No: PET/LPPC/23/2018.
It read in part: “Take notice that the above matter is fixed for hearing by the Disciplinary Committee of the Legal Practitioner Privileged Committee of the Office of Registrar Supreme Court of Nigeria Abuja on June 14, 2019 at 11.00 o’clock in the forenoon.”
Malami will be grilled over a comments he made on Voice of America (VOA) Hausa Service on July 13, 2018.
Malami accused Dasuki of being responsible for the deaths of over 100,000 Nigerians during the Goodluck Jonathan government and that he would not be released despite several subsisting court orders for his release.
Malami said; “Remember, we are talking about a person who was instrumental to the deaths of over 100,000 people. Are you saying that the rights of one person are more important than that of 100,000 who lost their lives?”
After the interview, Dasuki’s family petitioned the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), praying for an investigation and sanction of the minister for unprofessional conduct and utter disregard to the rule of law.
In the petition dated July 23, 2018 and received by the NBA the same day, the family wanted Malami to be investigated in the resolve of the Federal Government not to comply with the bail orders even as Dasuki remain incarcerated for almost four years.
Recalling how their son served Nigeria meritoriously for 21 years as a courageous officer in the Nigerian Army; Managing Director Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) and later as National Security Adviser to the immediate past administration, they stated that Dasuki in his lifetime has not been convicted of any crime till date.
The petition signed by his wife, Hajia Bintu Sambo Dasuki; his son, Abubakar Atiku Dasuki and his nephew, Senator Umar Dahiru, explained how the ordeal of Dasuki started when Buhari government came on board with “unlawful invasion of his houses in Abuja and Sokoto during which his vital properties including vehicles were carted away by the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS)”.
It chronicled how Dasuki was arraigned before four different High Courts and was granted bail all the judges insisting that the charges were bailable offences under the Nigerian law.
It added that the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) declared the detention of Dasuki as unlawful, null and void and subsequently ordered his immediate release in addition to imposing a fine of N15m on the Federal Government as compensation for the breach of Dasuki’s fundamental rights.
The family regretted that till date, none of the orders of the High Courts and the International Court has been obeyed by the Federal Government.
The petition made reference to the judgement of Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu on the Federal High Court which on July 2, 2018 admitted Dasuki to bail upon a discovery that his detention was a breach of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and that of the fundamental right of the ex-NSA.
The Dasuki family claimed that upon meeting the bail condition, the warrant of release of Dasuki on bail signed by the Court was served on the Director General of DSS and the Attorney General for their compliance with the order of the court.
The family, however, informed the NBA in the petition that rather than complying with the order of the court, the AGF as the Chief Law Officer of the Federation made unsalutory and unprofessional remarks that the order of the court as relates to Dasuki would not be obeyed by the Federal Government.
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