By UDORA ORIZU

A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Timi Frank, has called on the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to resign over his alleged involvement in the illegal invasion of the Abuja residence of the Supreme Court Judge, Justice Mary Odili, by security operatives.

Frank, in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately relieve Malami of his job should he fail to heed the call to vacate office.

He said despite Malami’s denial of his involvement in the invasion, he cannot entirely distance himself from the sting operation in view of previous state alleged sponsored impunity against selected Justices of the Supreme Court and Judges of the Federal High Court, under his watch.

According to him, the need to replace Malami has become imperative to stop incessant harassment, intimidation and molestation of judicial officers, as well as the denigration and desecration of the judiciary by Malami and security agencies allegedly acting on his orders.

He said:

“The manifest impunity against the justices under Malami’s watch was followed by the unceremonious removal of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, who is from the South, by the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress’ (APC) regime barely 29 days to the 2019 general election. What is the result of past inquiries ordered by Malami when the residences of selected Supreme Court Justices and Federal High Court judges were invaded in a gestapo-style by the DSS in 2016?

“Malami must be held accountable for the current invasion and any future harm against Justice Odili, who the hawks in the Buhari’s regime are eager to remove from office to prevent her from succeeding the incumbent CJN, Justice Tanko Muhammad, simply because of her geopolitical linage. They have a clandestine motive to remove the fearless jurist because she is the next in line to succeed the incumbent CJN. It is a strategy to remove her on time ahead of the 2023 general election knowing full well that she cannot be bought of pocketed by the APC’s regime.” (Text, excluding headline, courtesy THISDAY)

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