Mr. Abubakar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has denounced trending reports insinuating that Federal Executive Council (FEC) disowned presidency over the crisis surrounding appointment of EFCC Chairman Ibrahim Magu.
The trending media report entitled, “presidency disowned presidency’’, suggested that the Presidency ‘disowned’ the Acting President on a matter relating to a presidential nomination.
The controversy emanated over Senate’s face-off with Presidency over continuing retention of Mr. Ibrahim Magu as Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) after the senate ordered that he should be dropped.
A statement on Thursday on the report, Malami said that 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.’’
“It has come to my notice that a number of media organisations have been distorting and misreporting the proceedings of yesterday’s (July 5, 2017) Federal Executive Council (FEC) press briefing, and suggesting that the Presidency ‘disowned’ the Acting President on a matter relating to a presidential nomination.
He stated that the “President – and in this case the Acting President – is the Presidency, and therefore cannot be disowned by the Presidency’’.
“ 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.’’
He appealed to the media to take seriously, its responsibility to inform the public honestly and accurately.
The minister called on the media to refrain from distorting or sensationalizing the news, and to seek clarification when in doubt.
