Justice Obiora Egwuatu has recused himself from two cases filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
Justice Egwuatu, who was recently reassigned the cases by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, said he decided to withdraw for personal reasons and in the interest of justice.
The two cases include the multi-billion-naira asset forfeiture case concerning 57 properties and the N8.7 billion money laundering charges filed by the EFCC against Malami, his wife, Asabe Bashir, and his son, Abdulaziz Malami.
The development occurred shortly after the civil suit for the forfeiture of the 57 properties allegedly linked to Malami was called for mention.
At the resumed hearing, counsel to the EFCC, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, informed the court that the matter was scheduled for mention.
He added that the commission had received a letter from Malami’s counsel, Joseph Daudu, SAN, seeking an adjournment to Monday, February 16.
According to Iheanacho, Daudu stated in the letter that he was at the Court of Appeal for another case, hence the need for the adjournment.
Shortly after, Justice Egwuatu, in a brief ruling, announced his recusal.
“Gentlemen, for personal reasons and in the interest of justice, I will recuse myself from this case and in the other sister case,” he said, adding that the case files would be remitted back to the Chief Judge.
Although Daudu was not in court, lawyers for other respondents and applicants, who had interest in some of the properties already placed on temporary forfeiture to the Federal Government, were present.
The cases were formerly before Justice Emeka Nwite, who sat as vacation judge during the Yuletide break.
The Chief Judge had reassigned the cases to Justice Egwuatu after the Christmas vacation sitting ended, with February 12 fixed for the civil case and February 16 for the money laundering case.
No witch-hunt
Meanwhile, the EFCC has stated that its operations are not targeted at members of the opposition, including Malami, but that it handles cases irrespective of political affiliation.
EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said this in a recent exclusive interview with Channels Television, saying the agency’s investigation of Malami is not politically-related.
“Let me tell you about that particular former attorney-general that you are talking about — there is nothing personal in this matter. If Nigeria is to move forward, all of us must agree that this fight must be fought without being partisan, and that’s what I want Nigerians to understand and to agree with us,” Olukayode said in the interview aired on Sunday Politics.
“So now I want to tell Nigerians that the investigation of this man predated me in office, and a lot of people don’t know that. Yes, I edited the investigation file. What I did was to ensure that the investigation was carried out in a very professional and thorough manner.”
“He has been under investigation for almost two and a half years. The file was opened not even under me. I inherited it, and for the past over two years I’ve been in office, we’ve been painstakingly carrying out the investigation, trying to establish some of these offenses and all of that,” the EFCC czar said.
“Not until I was convinced that we had a watertight case — and Nigerians are witnesses — so there’s nothing personal about it. I don’t understand the issue of persecution and all of that.”
