Calls on Buhari to initiate a probe of Malami
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – President Muhammadu Buhari has been told to investigate allegations that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, was responsible for halting series of high profile corruption cases, thereby providing safe havens from crooks.
The Civil Society Network Against Corruption stated this in a letter to the President, which was made available to the media on Sunday.
One of such listed cases was that of the former representative of Kogi West Senatorial District, Dino Melaye.
CSNAC in a petition, titled: “Illegal take over of the case file of Senator Dino Melaye on the operation of foreign bank accounts and obstruction of justice by the Attorney General of the Federation and Compromise of Prosecutions,” signed by its Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, accused Malami of collecting the case file and stalling the trial.
Following allegations of running a foreign account, some with fictitious names, the rights group, armed with documents, had petitioned the Code of Conduct Bureau, requesting for Melaye’s prosecution.
The CSNAC said it wrote a petition dated December 7, 2017 to the Code of Conduct Bureau demanding the investigation of the alleged operation of foreign bank accounts in the United States of America by Melaye, while serving as a senator.
A copy of the bank statement of Melaye was attached to the petition for possible prosecution before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, were the alleged offences established.
The Bureau in a reply dated May 22, 2018, revealed the transfer of the case file to the Ministry of Justice on the request of Malami.
“We were surprised at that development and suspected a foul play, considering the power of Attorney General under Section 174 of the Constitution is limited to instituting or taking over cases instituted in court and not ‘Arresting an investigation’ as was obvious in the case under reference,” CSNAC said in the petition addressed to the President.
Reports in 2015 by Saharareporters revealed that Melaye had since 2010 illegally operated bank accounts in the United States of America.
According to the report, Melaye opened two accounts, one was a current and the other a savings, in the name of Daniel “Din” Melaye, posing as a student.
The report further stated that by leaving the impression of himself as a student, Senator Melaye was able to open a “Campus Edge” current account with account number 4460 1649 8396 and a regular savings account with account number 4460 1647 5966 with Bank of America in the State of Maryland.
He was alleged to have obtained a bank debit card with account number ending with 8873.
One of his transactions on the account at the time was said to have taken place on the December 4, 2015, the same day he addressed his colleagues at the floor of the Senate, on a proposed anti-free speech and anti-democracy bill on social media and public petition censorship, when he approved payment for a transaction relating to the purchase of cosmetics from a Kremlin-based MagnitKosmetik store.
Earlier on September 1, 2015, Melaye approved payment to a New York-based SchweigerDermatology.
Suraju said Melaye’s alleged action was in gross contravention of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers by virtue of the above stated constitutional provision.(Eagle Online).
