Justice Oluyemisi Adelaja adjourned the case until a later date and ordered the ex-AGF, Malami, SAN, to be served with all the necessary court documents to enable him to submit his defense.

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has been accused of abusing his position. Yesterday, the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory postponed hearing the case against him.

Justice Oluyemisi Adelaja adjourned the case until a later date and ordered the ex-AGF, Malami, SAN, to be served with all the necessary court documents to enable him to submit his defense.

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In addition, he ordered that a confirmation of serve of the lawsuit and hearing notice on Malami be submitted to the court.

The lawsuit seeks an order compelling the former AGF to pay Mr. Cecil Osakwe, an international industrialist and property developer, N1 billion in damages.

In the legal action he filed through his team of attorneys led by Mr. Victor Giwa, the plaintiff told the court that the former AGF used his office to force him to give Mrs. Asabe Waziri two units of three-bedroom flats in one of his properties located at Mekong Close, Maitama, Abuja.

Osakwe alleged that Malami compelled him to transfer the property worth approximately N130 million to Mrs. Waziri, contrary to an existing court order.

The plaintiff told the court that Malami, SAN, while serving as AGF, intervened in a civil dispute between his firm and Mrs. Waziri and used his position to oversee his ongoing harassment by security personnel.

The plaintiff said he sued Malami in both his official and personal capacities, alleging that his fundamental rights had been excessively violated.

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He maintained that the AGF acted maliciously and abused his position by bringing the charge of "collecting money under false pretense" against him in order to ensure that the property was completely transferred to Mrs. Waziri, who was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

According to the plaintiff, Malami took the action despite knowing that the second defendant had occupied the property for over eight months prior to being evicted by a valid court order that terminated the sales transaction between the parties.

"Your Honor, the second Respondent, Malami, is not represented in court, and the plaintiff is prepared to present his case.

"We engaged the services of the bailiff to serve all Respondents in this affair. This case is crucial to the plaintiff. Giwa argued that with this case, we must send a message to public officials that they cannot use their positions for personal gain.

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Mr. C.J. Abengowe, the attorney for Mrs. Waziri, who was named as the suit's first respondent, argued that even though the case was scheduled for hearing, it could not be considered because Malami was not present in court.

After hearing from both parties, Justice Adelaja stated that he was inclined to grant the ex-AGF a second chance to respond to the lawsuit.

Therefore, the court granted another postponement of the lawsuit.