Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has recanted his reported earlier statement exonerating the suspended DCP Abba Kyari of drugs trafficking.
Punch had reported a letter issued by Mohammed Abubakar, director of public prosecutions, ministry of justice, dated February 4, 2022, and addressed to the inspector-general of police, where Malami said there is no sufficient proof that Kyari was involved in money laundering.
According to the letter, “I am directed to inform you that after a careful study of the said response wherein you stated that ‘the monies have been traced to Zenith Bank account no. 2255416115 belonging to Usman Ibrahim Waziri; Guaranty Trust Bank account no. 0130665392 belonging to Adekoya Sikiru; Zenith Bank account no. 2080537566 belonging to Hussein Ala and other funds went to Sharon Festus. The monies were withdrawn and utilised by the aforementioned account holders and the lady,” the letter reads.
“It is our view that the above response has not linked the suspect, DCP Abba Kyari, to the offence of money laundering as the evidence contained in the case diary is not sufficient to indicate or show that the said monies were laundered directly or indirectly by Kyari to disguise their origin, more so that the aforementioned recipients or receivers exonerated him in their statements as having nothing to do with the monies.”
But Malami in a statement Sunday, described as false the media reports that his Office had conclusively exonerated Abba Kyari.
The clarification was made by Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
According to the statement signed by Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Malami said there appears to be misunderstanding regarding the issue.
He said: “It was a case of work in progress in respect of which the office of the Attorney General of the federation requested for further probe in relation to some aspects of investigation.
“It was clear that the conclusion on the alleged contradiction on the issue was a clear case of misconception.
“The office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice’s stance is that no conclusion has been reached in the direction of absence of evidence relating to the first report.
“The issues were raised for further investigation with a view to cover the field in investigation in order to arrived at informed decision.”
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