The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Malam Abubakar Malami, has cautioned judges and lawyers in the county to make sure they don’t sell their conscience and morals to the highest bidder.

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The AGF called on the judges and lawyers to see to it that the integrity and high respect the public has in the judiciary remains resolute to foster a trust relationship between the law courts and the citizens.

Malami made his submission in his address at the 2021 legal year ceremony of the Court of Appeal held in Abuja.

He said: “I hereby also extend a call of solidarity, reverence and respect for the Courts and Court processes, to all our Learned Distinguished Colleagues here present to ensure that justice is not trivialised to a commodity bargained for and taken by the highest bidder, at the detriment of the indigent who for want of equal bargaining power, wallow in the shadows of judicial neglect”.

In a related development, Malami recently denied accusations that he defied Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s directions on the All Progressives Congress (APC) State Congresses.

However, later news sources stated that the Vice President did not issue any directives to the AGF.

The AGF recently indicated that the conduct of the congresses is exclusively the responsibility of the APC and has nothing to do with Malami’s Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Umar Gwandu.

“It is important to put the record straight that congresses and the conduct thereof are a function of a political party and not the office of the Attorney General.

“The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is not responsible for the implementation of directives relating to party administration as it is rightly known.

“It is, therefore, incongruous and antithetical to common sense to think that the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice refusing to obey directives over which he has no legal responsibility to execute”.

“The allegation does not represent the true position of things, please. It is common knowledge that the two eminent personalities are both lawyers, hence could be entitled to their respective opinions within the context of Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that upholds freedom of expression.

Source:NaijaOnPoint.com

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