Malami replies Obasanjo, says he played limited role in 2022 presidential pardon 

Abubakar Malami, the former attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice, says presidential pardons granted to some inmates in 2022 under his watch followed due process.

Malami was responding to allegations by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo that presidential pardons granted by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari were fraught with corruption.

The Buhari regime, where Malami served as the AGF, granted pardon to Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame, former governors of Plateau and Taraba states, respectively alongside 157 inmates on the grounds of age and ill health.

Nyame was serving a 12-year jail sentence for diverting N1.64 billion when he was the governor of Taraba while Dariye was jailed for 10 years over a N1.126 billion fraud.

However, in his new book “Nigeria: Past and Future”, unveiled last week to mark his 88th birthday, Obasanjo described Malami as the “devil’s workshop”.

The former president claimed that Malami advised Buhari to grant the pardon through a process he alleged was corrupt.

He alleged that “the most atrocious waste, enthronement of corruption, and discouragement of officials fighting corruption” occurred during Buhari’s administration.

“It was all part of Malami’s financial shenanigans, and he played many such schemes to his advantage. His principal concurred, condoned, turned a blind eye and a deaf ear, and paid lip service to fighting corruption while cohabiting comfortably with corruption in multifarious ways,” Obasanjo alleged.

Responding in an interview with Punch, Malami said as AGF, his role in the process was limited to presenting the report of a designated committee to the council of state.

“Generally speaking, the issue of pardon is a legal matter governed by law and existing legislation, in which a committee on the prerogative of mercy—not the attorney-general—is responsible,” Punch quoted Malami as saying.

“The responsibility for actions and inactions associated with the committee’s recommendations lies with the committee, not the attorney-general,” Malami said.

The former minister also expressed reservations over what he described as “wild and unsubstantiated allegations of corruption relating to official acts of governance” both nationally and internationally.

Malami said it is “only reasonable” for such allegations to be made when they are backed by substantial details and evidence “to establish reasonable suspicion”.