By Anthony Otaru, Abuja
The corruption cases instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, were stalled on Thursday following the recusal of Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court.
Justice Egwuatu announced his withdrawal from both the civil forfeiture suit involving 57 properties allegedly linked to Malami and the N8.7 billion money laundering charge filed against him, his wife, Asabe Bashir, and his son, Abdulaziz Malami.
The judge, who recently took over the matters after they were reassigned by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, cited personal reasons and the interest of justice.
“Gentlemen, for personal reasons and in the interest of justice, I will recuse myself from this case and in the other sister case,” Egwuatu said in a brief ruling.
*Files sent back to Chief Judge for reassignment
He ordered that the case files be returned to the Chief Judge for reassignment.
The development came shortly after the civil forfeiture case was called for mention.
At the proceedings, EFCC counsel, Ekele Iheanacho (SAN), informed the court that Malami’s lead counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN), had written to request an adjournment until February 16, explaining that he was appearing at the Court of Appeal in another matter.
Although Daudu was absent, lawyers representing other respondents and parties with interests in some of the properties already placed under interim forfeiture to the Federal Government were present in court.
The cases were previously handled by Justice Emeka Nwite, who presided as a vacation judge during the Yuletide break. After the Christmas vacation, the Chief Judge reassigned the matters to Justice Egwuatu, fixing February 12 for the civil case and February 16 for the criminal proceedings.
Meanwhile, the EFCC has dismissed allegations of political persecution in its prosecution of Malami.
EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, said the investigation predates his tenure.
“There is nothing personal in this matter,” Olukoyede said. “The investigation of this man predated me in office. I inherited it and ensured that it was carried out in a very professional and thorough manner.”
He added that the former attorney-general had been under investigation for nearly 2.5 years before charges were filed.
“Not until I was convinced that we had a watertight case… there’s nothing personal about it. I don’t understand the issue of persecution,” he said.
