A coalition of civil society organisations, Competent Governance for Accountability and Civic Trust (CGACT), has described the N25million bribery allegation against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) as a figment of the imagination of the reporter, which has no weight whatsoever to tarnish the image of the number one Nigerian law officer.
An online newspaper (Daily Nigeria) had allegedly that the minister received the sum of N25, 000, 000 from the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Sen, Godwill Akpabio to facilitate the appointment of the Sole Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC),
In a press statement issued by the national coordinator of the CSO, Amb Adebayo Micheal Omoba, the group accused the online newspaper (Daily Nigeria) of “cheap media blackmail against the impeccable character of the chief law officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, thereby denting the image of Nigeria before the International community.”
It said Malami as the driver of the cardinal points of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, including security, anti-corruption and economic diversification could not have descended so low as to rubbish his rising profile with such deal as concocted by the online media.
“We, the civil society organisation are using this medium to call on the general public to discountenance the baseless and lame allegation. As far as we are concerned, the social media in recent times has done more damage to the image of Nigeria than good.
“It would be recalled that an online newspaper had earlier alleged that the Minister of Communications, Dr. Isa Pantami, and other top government officials in this current administration owned properties in choice areas. However, we will resist any attempt to pull down the edifice called Nigeria.
“The report is not just geared towards denting the impeccable character of Mr. Abubakar Malami and the office he is currently occupying, but also targeted at bringing down the edifice called Nigeria before the international community and before individuals who intend to do business here in Nigeria,” the group contended.
