BEVERLY HILLS, July 06, (THEWILL) – The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami, has declared that the Acting President is the President and cannot be disowned by the Presidency.
Malami made this known in a statement Thursday as he made clarifications about a statement he made on Wednesday which he said was mis-interpreted.
Malami was said to have distanced the Presidency from a statement by the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, where Osinbajo was reported to have concurred with Femi Falana that the Senate has no power to confirm some nominees by the executive.
THEWILL recalls that the Senate was irked by Osinbajo’s stance and chose to suspend the confirmation of nominees sent by the Presidency.
Reacting to the situation, Malami, on Thursday clarified that “the President – and in this case the Acting President – is the Presidency, and therefore cannot be disowned by the Presidency.”
He further declared that all matters relating to Presidential Appointments and Nominations are strictly a matter for the Presidency to handle and warned the Media against distortion of statements.
“It has come to my notice that a number of media organisations have been distorting and misreporting the proceedings of yesterday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) press briefing, and suggesting that the Presidency ‘disowned’ the Acting President on a matter relating to a presidential nomination,” the statement read.
“As the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, I would like to make it categorically clear that:
“1. The President – and in this case the Acting President – is the Presidency, and therefore cannot be disowned by the Presidency.
“2. All matters relating to Presidential Appointments and Nominations are strictly a matter for the Presidency to handle. They are not for the Federal Executive Council, and are therefore not discussed at FEC level. This was the point I made yesterday at the press briefing, and which was unfortunately distorted by the media.
“I would like to appeal to the media to take seriously its responsibility to inform the public honestly and accurately, to refrain from distorting or sensationalizing the news, and to seek clarification when in doubt.”
