The Attorney-General’s landslide feats

WEDNESDAY COLUMN BY USSIJU MEDANER

info@medaner.com, justme4justice@yahoo.com

Last week brought yet another degenerating exposition of the main opposition party, PDP. The party took opposition to a new low with its response to the emergence of the APC rice pyramid in Abuja; the first of such a rice pyramid in the history of Nigeria. Some years back, the same PDP went to the high heaven to criticise the government decision on rice dependence policy and literally condemned the local rice production policy, the closure of borders to protect the local farmers; while it simultaneously turned the increase in the market price of rice in the country to a campaign slogan. Suddenly, as promised by the APC government, local refined rice began to dominate the market and has  replaced foreign rice; the country’s status has changed from being the highest exporter of the commodity to the highest producer in the sub region. The APC government’s investment in rice production has begun to yield fruit and RIFAN has returned with products in exchange for loan repayment that became the cynosure of all eyes at the airport road in Abuja where the products were neatly arranged in a series of well-designed spectacular pyramids. 

Instead of keeping mum and pretending they did not see the glorious development, the accursed party went ahead to criticise the reality; claiming the sacks were sand-filled. Well, they are rice; and it is not surprising PDP could not understand how possible it is for such a grand change to happen in such a short time for the country, considering the fact that it had attempted similar policies in its squandered 16 without success. One of such adventures was the futile cassava flour revolution of the PDP government – or scammed cassava as some will call it – that only swallowed borrowed loans without becoming a reality. Anyway, when APC promised CHANGE, that is the meaning of change. 

This week, as I ponder on the PDP inglorious outburst, it occurs to me that the APC administration under President Muhammadu Buhari has suffered a lot of disservice stemming from non-recognition of its numerous good works. How many Nigerians today are talking about the revolution in the nation’s railway transportation and giving kudos to the man behind the development? How many are praising the good works in the nation’s airports, road infrastructure, bridges and others? How many are eulogising the government for the massive responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, the direct and indirect aids that have helped the citizens to survive the deadly virus and the economic woes that came with it? How many of us are jubilating and praising the government for the social interventions in the country since 2015; the N-POWER, Trader-moni and similar interventions? The opposition PDP actually was able to lead the attack on recognition of the good works because the ruling party failed to propagate its achievements and project the good works of its men and women who have been burning themselves daily to return the country to the path of glory.

One of those appointees of the President Muhammadu Buhari that has suffered non-recognition despite his huge patriotic contribution to the development of the country since 2015 is the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN. The last few years and the obvious lack of publicity of the activities of the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice has, without prejudice, created a vacuum between the citizens and the office. An obvious vacuum the opposition is taking advantage of to rubbish the office and the person of the Attorney General. 

Consequently, actions and reactions of the office and the holder of the office have been subjected to undue scrutiny as they were mostly perceived to be outside the preview and jurisdiction of the office or mostly because the opposition parties and figures who are scared of the effectiveness of the office have embarked on a relentless mission of preaching the messages of calumny, that disparages the office and the man organising the office.  

It is time we set straight the mischaracterisation of the person of the honourable Minister of justice and the Attorney General of the federation, Mr. Malami and douse all tensions raised by sponsored propagandists to rubbish the many achievements of his office.   

As the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN stands out as a key contributory element of the successes recorded by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government since 2015. The administrative commitment, agility and relentless spirit manifested by the office has seen to the redefinition of the national justice administration. On many fronts, the nation has become more energised in its approaches to dissemination of justice and responses to judicial issues as relate to the national economy and overall stability.    

The achievements are many and cannot be exhaustively discussed in one paper of limited content but I would try to do justice to it here and now.

Sometimes, after 2015, Nigeria actively became involved in the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog. The move, taken by the office of the Minister of justice and the Attorney General tremendously challenged the worrisome incidences of money laundering and terrorism financing in the country. Subsequently, the country has been able to exert legal processes to identify and block funds meant for financing insurgency in the country and as well bring to justice financiers of insecurity in the country. This action has become a very critical component of the country’s onslaught against terrorism and is mostly responsible for the recorded incapacitation of the insurgent overtime. 

The redesigned structure and complexity of the nation’s anti-corruption fight in the last six years in terms of additional legislative charters, institutional strengthening, policy reviews and regional cooperations undertaken by the Office of the Attorney General has seen the country through an invigorating fight against corruption and has hugely recorded results as visible in the volume of transnational stolen assets recoveries, concluded litigations and cases in favour of the country and government.

For the first time in a long history of the country, we saw the federal government rejected an international judgment that was not in favour of the country and appealing the same; the success recorded in the P&ID case was a big plus for the country, the office of the Attorney General and the person of Mr. Abubakar Malami who coordinated the reactions to the issue.

The nation was awarded an undue damages in favour of P&ID as the court that sat in London over-assumed and compensated P&ID on an inconceivable scale and exacting a punishing award against Nigeria. The award, huge as it was capable, would have exerted so much strain on the nation’s coffers if allowed to stand. In the past, that judgment would have stood, but the Office of the Attorney General effectively appealed the case and got a favourable reversal for the country.

Recently, as a demonstration of the Ministry of Justice’s commitment to end banditry and related insecurity in the country, the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice filed an application for the proscription of bandits in the country as Terrorists. The successful proscription has today turned the heat on the bandits in the country as it is impossible for them to hide any longer under the protection of whatever human right. We are today, frequently seeing the results of that action as the nation’s military is frontally attacking the targets without mercy and fear of litigation as was the case in the past.

The list is non-ending; for the very first time in Nigeria we have been able to establish and set in motion the operation of virtual court sitting facilities in the country, removing the constraint of mobility, time and space in the country’s justice delivery administration. Over the last six and half years, the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice has afforded the President and the presidency sound and qualitative legal opinions. 

Despite all these and many more, the opposition and many misinformed as well as mischievous armchair critics will choose to portray the assiduous Attorney-General of the Federation in the worst of terms. Posterity would indeed judge him favourably. 

GOD BLESS THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA !