Hushpuppi: Malami Denies Exonerating Kyari, Says He only Ordered Further Probe

Kingsley Nwezeh and Alex Enumah in Abuja

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, yesterday, denied exonerating detained commander of the Inspector General of Police’s special Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abba Kyari, from alleged wire fraud for which he (Kyari) was being wanted in the United States of America.

A District Court of the United States had last April issued a warrant of arrest for Kyari over his alleged involvement in a $1.1million internet scam linked to Mr Ramon Abass aka Hushpuppi and others. 

This comes as the Police Service Commission (PSC) said it was yet to receive the report of a fresh investigation of  the Nigeria Police over allegations of fraud levelled against Kyari and his indictment by the United States District Court sitting in California.

 Following the order and a formal request for Kyari’s extradition by the US ambassador in the Nigeria, the federal government two weeks ago commenced extradition proceedings against Kyari at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Although hearing in the suit is yet to commence as Kyari and six others were last week arraigned for drug related offences. They were arraigned on an eight count charge bordering on alleged conspiracy, obstruction and dealings in cocaine worth 17.55 grams.

Although Kyari and four of his colleagues in the IRT pleaded not guilty to the charge, the two other civilians however admitted to the crime.

However, as the nation awaited the hearing in the extradition proceedings, some media report surfaced yesterday to the extent that the office of the AGF had exonerated Kyari from complicity in the wire fraud due to absence of evidence linking him to the crime.

Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr Mohammed Abubakar, was said to have made the submission in a new legal advice to the Inspector General of Police.

The new legal advice with reference number, DPPA/LA/814/21, read in part: “I am directed to inform you that after a careful study of the said response wherein you stated that ‘the monies have been traced to Zenith Bank account no. 2255416115 belonging to Usman Ibrahim Waziri; Guaranty Trust Bank account no. 0130665392 belonging to Adekoya Sikiru; Zenith Bank account no. 2080537566 belonging to Hussein Ala and other funds went to Sharon Festus. The monies were withdrawn and utilised by the aforementioned account holders and the lady.

“It is our view that the above response has not linked the suspect, DCP Abba Kyari, to the offence of money laundering as the evidence contained in the case diary is not sufficient to indicate or show that the said monies were laundered directly or indirectly by Kyari to disguise their origin, more so that the aforementioned recipients or receivers exonerated him in their statements as having nothing to do with the monies.”

But the AGF, in a swift response, described the media report as false, clarifying that his office has not exonerated Kyari in the alleged wire fraud.

The new clarification was made by Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

Gwandu, in a statement to journalists noted that, “There appears to be misunderstanding regarding the issue. It was a case of work-in-progress in respect of which the office of the Attorney General of the federation requested for further probe in relation to some aspects of investigation.” 

Gwandu, while stating further that it was clear the conclusion on the alleged contradiction on the issue was a clear case of misconception, explained that, “The office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice’s stance is that no conclusion, has been reached in the direction of absence of evidence relating to the first report. 

“The issues were raised for further investigation with a view to cover the field in investigation in order to arrive at informed decision,” he added.

To that extent, the Police Service Commission (PSC) has said it was yet to receive the report of a fresh investigation of the Nigeria Police over allegations of fraud levelled against Kyariand his indictment by the United States District Court sitting in California.

The commission had rejected the first report of the investigative panel headed by late Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG), Mr Joseph Egbunike, which recommended Kyari’s demotion by one rank.

Also, the commission, had further ordered the police to set up a fresh panel to look into the matter in view of the its international significance and its implications for Nigeria’s image.

“They (police) have not gotten back to us. We gave them two weeks. Up till now, they are yet to get back,” a source at the commission stated.