I can’t tell DSS to release Sowore – Attorney General, Abubakar Malami

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I can’t tell DSS to release Sowore – Attorney General, Abubakar Malami






Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Monday, December 16th indicated that he could not ask the Department of State Service to release Omoyele Sowore from custody.  
 
The minister said in the statement that he could not take a unilateral decision on the release of Sowore without recourse to the court, where the ‘RevolutionNow’ protests convener and his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare, are being prosecuted on charges of treasonable felony, among others.    
 
This is contained in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Dr. Umar Gwandu, who stated that Malami was reacting to “the claim that a lawyer sent a letter to the AGF requesting the release of Mr. Sowore”.  
 
The statement appeared to be a veiled reference to the letter by Sowore’s lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), sent to the AGF on Friday to demand the release of the convener of ‘RevolutionNow’ protests from the custody of the DSS.
 
The AGF’s takeover of the case was informed by the widely condemned invasion of the Federal High Court in Abuja by the operatives of the DSS to rearrest Sowore on December 6. Falana who heads the defence team of the two men informed Malami that Sowore had, since his rearrest on December 6, been kept in the DSS custody without the backing of any detention order of court or arrest warrant.  
 
He stated that his letter became necessary after two lawyers in the team visited the DSS headquarters in Abuja to demand Sowore’s release but were advised to direct their request to Malami. 
 
In a statement making a veiled reference to Falana’s letter on Monday, Malami said in the statement issued by Gwandu, “When parties submit their issues for determination to a court of law, they lack exclusivity of decision over such issues without recourse to the court. We remain guided by the established tradition and will not take unilateral decision without recourse to the rule of law”. 

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Falana To Malami: You Risk Being Removed As AGF If You Fail To Release Sowore




Femi Falana, senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says Abubakar Malami risks being removed as the attorney-general of the federation (AGF) if he fails to secure the release of Omoyele Sowore.

Last Friday, Malami took over Sowore’s case from the Department of State Services (DSS), and with this development, Falana, counsel to the activist, asked him to use his office to secure Sowore’s release.

The AGF, however, said he cannot take any decision on Sowore’s release.

Responding in a statement on Tuesday, Falana said the AGF has not taken note of the legal implications of taking over the case.

“With respect, Mr. Malami has not taken cognizance of the legal implications of taking over a pending criminal case in exercise of the powers of an Attorney-General under the common law and the Constitution,” the statement read.

“In the case of State v Ilori (1983) JELR 51804 (SC) the Supreme Court dwelt in extenso on the powers of an Attorney-General under section 193 of the 1979 Constitution which is in pari materia with section 174 of the 1999 Constitution. In that case Eso JSC of blessed memory said inter alia:

“An Attorney-General, who proposes to act under his powers to institute and undertake, take over and continue or discontinue criminal proceed­ings would need to bear in mind public interest, interests of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process before he exercises his powers, since if he ignores any of these, he would run the risk of exposing himself to removal or reassignment by his appointor, and above all – and this is most important – also to public opinion.

“‘The powers of the Attorney-General under s. 191, (and notwithstanding sub-section (3) thereof) are still a matter for his quasi-judicial discretion and one within his complete province. He still possesses the constitutional powers in full and the responsibility for any decision thereupon rests solely on him.

“Since Mr. Malami has taken over the case of FRN v Sowore v Another he is deemed to possess ‘the constitutional powers in full and the responsibility for any decision thereupon rests solely on him.’ Therefore, he cannot like Pontius Pilate wash of his hands with respect to the illegal detention of Sowore by the State Security Service. Furthermore, since section 287 of the Constitution has imposed a legal obligation on all authorities and persons in Nigeria to comply with the decisions of all competent courts the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Malami is duty bound to direct the State Security Service to release Sowore on bail in compliance with the valid and subsisting order of the federal high court.”

The senior lawyer said on legal principle, they are compelled to ask the AGF to direct the DSS to release Sowore without further delay.

Sowore, convener of Revolution Now Movement, was arrested in August for planning a nationwide protest.

Despite a court order granting him bail, the activist has been denied his freedom.

He was briefly released after 124 days in detention but was rearrested less than 24 hours after, and he has been in DSS custody since this time.

https://www.thecable.ng/falana-to-malami-you-risk-being-removed-as-agf-if-you-fail-to-release-sowore

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'I was never summoned by the Federal High Court over Sowore's continued detention' - Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami






Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami said he was never summoned by the Federal High Court over the continued detention of Omoyele Sowore.  
According to Malami in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, on Wednesday night,  “the issues that surrounded the subject matter borders on the application filed by Sowore’s lawyer on the 15th day of November 2019.

“The Court adjourned the matter to the 23rd day of January, 2020 for the hearing of the substantive matter.    
“Surprisingly, on Tuesday the 17th day of December, 2019, the Applicant’s Counsel adopted an ex-parte application filed on the 15th day of November, 2019 before Hon. Justice I E. Ekwo.  
“However, the Court, being aware of the fact that parties have joined issues, ordered that the Deputy Chief Registrar (Litigation) shall inform the 1st & 2nd Respondents of the case and the next adjourned date.”

According to him, court order in question was only to bring to the notice of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami and the Director General of the State Security Service to take notice that upon the motion ex-parte filed on November 15th that applicants want an expedited hearing of the matter.   
 
Quoting the order obtained from the court, Malami said: “an order is hereby made that the Deputy Chief Registrar (Litigation) of this Court shall bring this case and the next date of hearing to the notice and attention of the 1st and 2nd Defendants”.  
 
Buttressing the fact that the timing for hearing falls during the holiday season the court said “an order is hereby made remitting this file to the Hon. Chief Judge for assignment of this case to Vacation Judge for hearing as the next date of hearing falls within the vacation period”.  
 
The Court also ordered that the case file be remitted to the Hon. Chief Judge for assignment to the vacation Judge for hearing as the next adjourned date of hearing falls within the vacation period.  
 
It is noteworthy that the day or date of the next adjourned date was not indicated in the order of the Court. Therefore, flowing from the above and the Order from the Court dated Tuesday, the 17th day of December 2019 there were no evidence to show that the Director DSS and the Attorney-General of the Federation have been summoned by the Court as some individuals want to allude.