A Federal Capital Territory High Court has been told that the immediate past attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, cannot use the office he occupied for about eight years to pursue personal interest.
An international businessman and property developer, Mr Cecil Osakwe, through his lawyer, Barrister Victor Giwa, told Justice Oluyemisi Adelaja, that those entrusted with responsibilities of public office should learn to put their personal interest aside in the discharge of their responsibilities.
Barrister Giwa, during the hearing of the case filed by Osakwe, alleging abuse of office against Malami, said the bailiff of the court was mobilized to serve the processes on all the parties in the matter.
Apart from the plaintiff alleging abuse of office, he is equally seeking an order to compel the AGF to pay N1billion as damages to him.
When the case came up in court, Barrister Giwa told the court that all parties are aware of the pendency of the matter.
According to him, the bailiff was mobilized to serve processes on parties.
He said, “My lord, the second respondent (Malami) is not represented in court and the claimant is ready to open his case.
“We mobilized the bailiff to serve the respondents in this matter. This case is very important to the claimant. With this case, we need to send message to public officers that they cannot use their office to pursue personal interest”.
In his response, counsel to Asabe Waziri, first repondent in the matter, Mr. C.J. Abengowe, said the case was supposed to be for hearing but since the second respondent is not represented in court, the case cannot be heard.
Justice Adelaja, fixed the case for October 17, adding that proof of service to necessary parties should be made available.
The plaintiff, in the legal action told the court that the AGF, using his office, arm-twisted him to give out two units of three-bedroom flats in one of his properties situated in Mekong Close, Maitama, Abuja to a civil servant and staff of Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, Mrs Asabe Waziri.
Osakwe alleged that Malami forced him to hand the property worth about N130 million to Mrs. Waziri, against a subsisting order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
The plaintiff told the court that the AGF waded into a civil dispute his firm had with Mrs Waziri and used his position to supervise his continuous harassment by security operatives.
Alleging that his fundamental rights were grossly violated, the plaintiff, said he sued Malami both in his official and personal capacity.
He maintained that the AGF acted with malice and abused his office by raising the charge of “collecting money under false pretence’’ against him with a view to ensuring that the property was fully handed over to Mrs Waziri who was also cited as a defendant in the suit.
According to the plaintiff, Malami took the action, even though he was aware that the 2nd defendant had initially moved into the said property and stayed for over eight months before she was vacated from it by a lawful court order that terminated the sales transaction between both parties.
Consequently, aside from praying the court to declare that the AGF engaged in abuse of public office, the plaintiff, urged the court to order him to pay N1bn as damages.
Osakwe said his reputation had been damaged through the actions and decisions of the AGF in a civil case between two individuals.
Asabe Waziri and Cecil Osakwe have been in a fierce battle over the control of two units of 3-bedroom flats which was sold to Asabe Waziri by Abeh Signature Ltd, a company owned by Cecil Osakwe.
Osakwe had approached a High Court of Justice of the Federal Capital Territory, seeking the cancellation of the sales transaction regarding two units of 3-bedroom flats between Abeh Signature Ltd and Asabe Waziri for reasons that Asabe Waziri, a staff of the then NNPC, being a public officer, made huge cash payment in dollars to his company; a transaction Cecil suspected to be suspicious under the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML).