Malami clears air over confusion on Abba Kyari’s extradition, cocaine trafficking trial

18 Mar Malami clears air over confusion on Abba Kyari’s extradition, cocaine trafficking trial

The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has said there is no confusion or conflict over the extradition proceedings and cocaine-trafficking charges filed against Abba Kyari, a suspended deputy commissioner of police.

Mr Malami said this while addressing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday.

There have been concerns that the move to extradite Mr Kyari to the U.S. may be scuttled by the cocaine-related charges filed against him at the Federal High Court in Abuja by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The concerns are anchored on section 3 (6) of the Extradition Act, which prohibits the extradition of a fugitive standing trial on different criminal charges in Nigeria.

The part of the Extradition Act reads, “(A) A fugitive criminal who has been charged with an offence under the law of Nigeria or any part thereof, not being the offence for which his surrender is sought; or

“(B) Who is serving a sentence imposed in respect of any such offence by a court in Nigeria, shall not be surrendered until such a time as he has been discharged whether by acquittal or on the expiration of his sentence or otherwise.”

But Mr Malami, without addressing the specific implication of the statutory provisions on the move to extradite Mr Kyari, described the concerns about the likely impact of the cocaine-trafficking charges on the extradition move as a misconception.

“There is no confusion, but there is a great misconception or perhaps either mischievous or otherwise on the part of certain, perhaps journalists that have not taken their time to study a situation, understand it and act accordingly,” he said.

He recalled that the United States government had asked for Mr Kyari’s extradition regarding his roles in a $1.1million fraud spearheaded by a former Nigerian Instagram celebrity, Ramon Abbas, aka Hushpuppi, before the NDLEA charged him with cocaine-related offences in February.

Despite the clear provisions of the Extradition Act and the likelihood of the defence citing the NDLEA case as grounds for dismissing the extradition proceedings, the AGF maintained that there was no conflict between the two cases on Wednesday.

“What I am saying is there is nothing like confusion, there is nothing like conflict, there are two distinct and separate cases,” he said.

He added, “So the conclusion as to whether a person should be extradited or not, is a function, or perhaps multilateral function inclusive of the international community that makes a request, the Office of the Attorney General … request and the judiciary to which the request is presented for review, analysis and decision.”

Asked the status of the extradition proceedings, Mr said, “It’s being processed at the judicial level.”

The comment appears to be an attempt to set the judiciary up for blame, considering that the court may have to dismiss the extradition proceedings once the pending NDLEA’s cocaine case is cited by Mr Kyari’s legal team.

It also fuels speculations about a conspiracy theory that the NDLEA case was hurriedly filed in court to scuttle the extradition proceedings, and have Mr Kyari remain in Nigeria where his trial can go on without an end for years.