THE recent public posturing and proxy attacks directed at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by Nigeria’s former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, are profoundly troubling and entirely unbecoming of a man who once occupied the highest legal office in the land.
Malami is not an ordinary citizen unfamiliar with the workings of law enforcement or the demands of due process. As Attorney-General of the Federation, he was the chief law officer of Nigeria, custodian of the rule of law, and supervisor directly or indirectly of the very institutions he now seeks to delegitimise because he has been invited for questioning.
It is therefore disturbing that instead of honouring the terms of his bail and submitting himself to lawful investigation, Mr. Malami has chosen the path of public sympathy-seeking, insinuations, and indirect attacks on the EFCC and its leadership.
This conduct raises serious questions about the respect he once claimed to have for institutions he is now defending.
Even more concerning is the reported demand by Malami that the EFCC Chairman should recuse himself from the matter.
Such a request, coming at this stage and under these circumstances, smacks of intimidation, forum shopping, and an attempt to bend institutions to personal convenience tactics that undermine public confidence in the justice system.
Malami knows better than most Nigerians that investigation is not persecution, that invitation is not conviction, and that no suspect reserves the right to dictate the composition of an investigative body simply because he once wielded power.
The law does not recognise pedigree, former office, or seniority at the bar as shields against accountability.
As Attorney-General, Mr. Malami presided over prosecutions, gave legal backing for arrests, and defended detentions under far less scrutiny. He cannot now turn around to question the legitimacy of the same processes simply because the searchlight has turned in his direction.
Nigeria’s democracy rests on a sacred but straightforward principle: no one is above the law. Not ministers. Not senior advocates. Not former Attorneys-General.
When powerful individuals attempt to weaken institutions through noise, proxies, or procedural gamesmanship, they do violence to that principle.
Malami owes the nation, the legal profession, and his own legacy a better response, one grounded in humility, compliance with lawful authority, and respect for due process. If he believes in his innocence, the proper place to assert it is before investigators and the courts, not in the court of public opinion.
- Ebube, a public affairs commentator, writes from Abuja.