Afe Babalola Condemns Malami’s Opposition to Amotekun
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Afe Babalola, has counseled the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to go beyond pronouncement and take the six South-west governors to court over the consummation of the joint security network called operation Amotekun.
Babalola said it would be tantamount to illegality for Malami to constitute himself as a lawful court dishing out judgement on issues of this nature, and would also constitute gross abuse of court process for the federal government to expect the South-west governors to file an action against the Federal Government on operation Amotekun conundrum.
Also a socio-pressure group under the auspices of ‘Ajoro Ekiti’, has asked Malami to immediately resign as the Minister for Justice and the AGF, accusing him of acting the script of an undeclared interest which constitutes a serious threat to national security and the peace of the country.
Babalola, while speaking with journalists in Ado Ekiti yesterday on the highly controversial issue, said: the federal government should be the one to approach the court to seek redress, since it waited until after the formation of Amotekun before making its position known.
According to him, “In my opinion, the act has been done; Amotekun had been launched, so let them go on. Anybody who feels what they have done is wrong can go to court. They will meet the governors there. What all the governors have to do is to show them the law- sections 24, 40, 45 of the constitution-and that is it.
“What the state governors have done is legal, so why should they bother? Let the federal government go to court. It is a case that must fail if they go to court. They have not set up a parallel police outfit. No, the constitution says it is your duty to protect the interest of yourself and others and join together in doing so. So simple! The case will be so easy to win.
“The Amotekun outfit is a protective and supportive outfit established by the governors of the Southwest zone. It has its roots in the 1999 Constitution and the previous constitutions before it-1960, 1963.