Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami is behind an alleged plot to use the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to embarrass Governor Willie Obiano, the Anambra State Government has said.
State Commissioner of Information and Public Enlightenment, Don Adinuba said this during an appearance on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television.
Reports recently circulated that the EFCC through a letter to the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) dated November 15, 2021, urged the NIS to place Obiano on its watchlist, and asked to be informed should the governor attempt to leave the country from any of the international airports or other points of entry and exit.
The commissioner noted that the EFCC is supervised by the Office of the AGF, while Malami led a futile effort to frustrate the recent governorship election in Anambra.
Adinuba said, “Nobody invited him (the governor) to interrogate him or hear his own side of the story. No petition was presented to him. He did not make any comments. But all of a sudden, the EFCC announced rather secretly…using the media as a third party…to announce that he is being watched. That is very surprising. There is absolutely no reason for that. And worse, the EFCC gave the impression that the governor wants to bolt away when he has a while four months to remain in office.
“It is unimaginable that a governor will abandon a state a whole four months to the end of his tenure. That is surprising. It just does not make sense to anyone simply because the whole exercise is politically motivated.”
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Asked to specify the person, Adinuba said, “I will repeat who these people are. The very people who did not want election to hold in Anambra State and had the audacity to tell the whole nation that the election was not going to hold for security reasons, without clearance with the President.
“Immediately the President got to know of this plot, he was alarmed and said ‘no, the election must hold in Anambra and it must be free and fair’. And the election actually became free, fair and transparent, and its outcome is in sync with the sentiments and expectations of the generality of not only Anambra people but all Nigerians.
“Consequently, Soludo’s victory became a national phenomenon. These people have tried everything possible to stop AGPA’s representative, Soludo, and consequently winning the election. They went as far as approving a Customary Court in Abuja to obtain summons – criminal summons – on Soludo. They went as far as arranging a kangaroo judgment from a High Court in Jigawa State over the chairmanship of APGA and more importantly the authentic candidate of APGA in the November 6 gubernatorial election in Anambra State.”