The Nigerian Attorney-General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Sunday said that he has not exonerated Abba Kyari, a suspended deputy commissioner of police, of complicity in the $1.1 million money laundering scheme spearheaded by Ramon Abbas, also known as Hushpuppi.
The Minister of Justice, who was responding to a Nigeria’s Punch Newspaper report that he was plotting to save Kyari, said he had only advised the police to carry out further investigation to link the senior police officer to the crime.
He called the case a work in progress.
The Nigeria’s newspaper reported that Malami had, weeks after asking the police to probe the proceeds of the crime received by Mr Kyari, made a U-turn in second legal advice that there was no evidence against him.
But reacting to the report, Malami’s spokesperson said in the statement, “Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN has described as false the media reports that his Office had conclusively exonerated Abba Kyari.”
Gwandu said there “appears to be misunderstanding regarding the issue”, adding, “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.”
He added that “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 arrive at informed decision.”
Malami maintained that “no conclusion has been reached in the direction of the absence of evidence relating to the First Report”.