The Attorney-General of the Federation
and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has denied media reports
that he was behind the legal stalemate over the Abia state governorship
seat, saying "those canvassing the position have no basis to do so."
While insisting that so far, nobody has
approached him to proffer any legal opinion to the Abia State crisis,
Malami urged the parties involved to await the decision of the courts.
According to him, the insinuations are a
figment of the imagination of those "pushing the irredeemable lies into
public space which only translates to partisanship on the side of its
purveyors."
The clarification of the AGF was
contained in a statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity),
Dr. Othman Salihu Isah, obtained by journalists on Sunday in Abuja, in
reaction to a story on the front page of a national Newspaper with the
headline: "Abia: Buhari awaits AGF's advice on stalemate."
The statement reads: "The attention of
the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice has been drawn to the insinuations and crass lies
being peddled and disseminated by a cross-section of Nigerians and the
various media platforms that the Honourable Attorney General of the
Federation is behind the legal logjam over the Abia state governorship
seat and wish to clarify that those canvassing this position have no
basis to do so.
"Of particular concern are those who
have peddled ill-natured rumours with a view to misinform our discerning
populace that the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and by
extension, the Federal Government of Nigeria that gave directives to the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue Certificate
of Return to Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah declaring him Governor-Elect. He has
definitely not taken any action either by spoken words or body language
as far as this Abia governorship crisis is concerned.
"I wish to therefore, on behalf of my
principal declare that these rumours are untrue and a figment of the
imagination of those pushing these selfish, shameless and irredeemable
lies into public space which only translates to partisanship on the side
of its purveyors.
"As far as the Honourable Attorney
General of the Federation is concerned, the constitutional powers for
the legal opinion of his office have not been invoked on this issue. So
far, nobody has approached him to proffer any legal opinion to it. As a
strong believer in the rule of law, it is his belief that the law should
naturally take its cause. The Honourable Attorney General of the
Federation will not be dragged into this controversy and mind-games
being played out by the various legal minds and spin doctors of both
camps at this point.
"The parties involved should await the
decision of the courts. In fact, we wish to by this statement advise
those in the habit of dragging the highly esteemed Office of the
Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice
into knotty issue of this kind even when it is yet to take a position.
They should desist from these unwarranted presumptions henceforth.
Signed...
COMRADE SALIHU OTHMAN ISAH
SPECIAL ADVISER, MEDIA AND PUBLICITY
TO THE HON. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE
3RD JULY, 2016
Source: elombah.com
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