The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, says the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have the powers to prosecute former Lagos Governor Bola Tinubu.

But the justice minister claimed that he was not investigating the national leader of the All Progressives Congress. 

Mr. Malami also denied instructing the EFCC and CCB to institute new proceedings against the former governor of Lagos state and national leader of the All Progressives Congress.

“The office of the Attorney-General, as you rightly know, has not filed any action before any court in the land relating to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” said Mr. Malami. 

“But then, within the context of the law, as you rightly know, the EFCC and Code of Conduct Bureau are all statutory bodies that are vested with statutory powers to act within the context of the laws establishing them.” 

Mr. Malami spoke on Channels TV’s ‘Politics Today’ programme on Tuesday.

He pointed out that he could not confirm if the EFCC or the Code of Conduct Bureau were investigating Tinubu. According to him, the agencies are statutorily empowered to probe and prosecute people.

The EFCC had in November 2020 written a letter to the CCB requesting copies of Tinubu’s asset declaration form. However, on Tuesday, Peoples Gazette reported that the records relating to Bola Tinubu’s asset declaration were missing from the storage facilities they were kept. 

Mr. Tinubu was Lagos governor between 1999 and 2007. Officials said his assets were declared when he assumed office and concluded his second term in May 2007. 

He had previously been investigated and charged based on the documents in 2011, but the Code of Conduct Tribunal dismissed the case on technical grounds.