Falana: Malami Exposed Judiciary to Ridicule over Sowore’s Release

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has accused the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) of exposing the judiciary to ridicule through his comment on the release of Omoyele Sowore, convener of RevolutionNow Movement.

The senior lawyer said in a statement yesterday that since the release of Sowore and Dasuki from illegal custody on December 24, 2019, Malami has put himself under undue pressure.

Falana further argued that in the process, the minister has embarrassed the Executive arm of the government and exposed the judiciary to ridicule.

The human rights activist pointed out that after announcing that he had directed the Department of State Services (DSS) to release Sowore and Dasuki from custody in compliance with the court orders that had granted them bail, the Justice Minister turned round to say that the release was an act of compassion and mercy on the part of the executive.

Falana argued that the federal government lacked the necessary legal apparatus to continue to keep Dasuki and Sowore in defiance to the orders of the court.

But Malami, who was refuting claims that the federal government had released Dasuki and Sowore because of international pressure particularly from the United States of America and the United kingdom, claimed that the government has powers to continue to detain Dasuki and Sowore, having appealed the decision of the trial court.

He added that, “After announcing that he had directed the State Security Service (DSS) to release Sowore and Dasuki from custody in compliance with the court orders that had granted them bail the Justice Minister turned round to say that the release was an act of compassion and mercy on the part of the executive arm”.

“I was compelled to challenge the claim of the Justice Minister as he lacks the power to release any person standing trial on compassionate grounds by virtue of section 175 of the Constitution. After he had rightly abandoned that dangerous legal route the Justice Minister has since asserted that the federal government was right to have detained the Sowore and Dasuki in defiance of the court orders which had admitted them to bail. “In support of the outlandish contention, the Justice Minister said that the federal government was not bound to obey the court orders until the final determination of the appeals filed against the court orders,” Falana said in a statement made available to journalists.

While stating that Malami has “put himself under undue pressure” by this position, Falana said the minister in the process, “has embarrased the executive and exposed the judiciary to ridicule”.

In supporting his claim, Falana who is the lead counsel to Sowore, cited an interview of Malami aired on NTA last Thursday wherein the minister claimed that the government filed a stay of execution in the cases of the defendants.