{"id":21092,"date":"2019-09-27T15:46:32","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T15:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=21092"},"modified":"2019-09-27T15:46:32","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T15:46:32","slug":"malami-cant-defend-buharis-past-but-justifies-detaining-sowore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=21092","title":{"rendered":"Malami can\u2019t defend Buhari\u2019s past but justifies detaining Sowore"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, struck a defiant tone when he was quizzed on why the government of President Muhammad Buhari chose to detain Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, for calling for a revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mr Malami had his hands full when he fielded questions on a \u201cFocus on Africa\u201d BBC interview obtained by\u00a0<strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/premiumtimesng.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">PREMIUM TIMES<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Malami can&#039;t defend Buhari&#039;s past but justifies detaining Sowore\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aCsb3cszE_g?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have at hand a situation whereby someone that contested election and lost and is eventually calling on revolution and change of government through means other (than what) the constitution recognizes. And to our (the government\u2019s) mind, that constitutes a treasonable felony,\u201d Mr Malami said.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His interviewer, Peter Okwoche, then questioned the morality of President Muhammadu Buhari, who in his first coming as Head of State toppled a democratically elected government of late Shehu Shagari in a coup in 1983 and in 2011 called for protests akin to those that took place in Egypt. He asked what justification a government led by a man like Mr Buhari had for detaining Mr Sowore who only called for a revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At first, Mr Malami flinched with his eyes closed before he carefully maintained that he could only talk about Mr Sowore\u2019s case, suggesting that he could not respond to or justify his principal\u2019s past.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mr Okwoche pressed on. He cited one of the charges levelled against Mr Sowore, which is \u201cinsulting the president\u201d, demanding what the government\u2019s intent was to have made such accusation in a democratic dispensation.More in\u00a0Home<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;As far as I\u2019m concerned,\u201d came Mr Malami\u2019s response, \u201ctreason is treason. If there is a case for treason, you have, as a matter of obligation and right, to present a case before the government.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat we have done is to present our case before the judiciary which enjoys independence and freedom to determine one thing or the other.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNot that we have taken the laws in our hand by adjudging him guilty but by presenting him before judicial process so that he could be accorded the opportunity to present a counter case,\u201d Mr Malami said.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mr Malami justified these instances by suggesting that they probable plotted to change the government without the constitutionally recognised means, election.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The interview was held before Mr Sowore was granted bail on Tuesday by a high court. However, despite Mr Malami\u2019s claim of respecting the judicial process, the government has refused to release the activist.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mr Sowore, charged with a seven-count charge, including treasonable felony for planning a #RevolutionNow protest, was granted bail after spending over 45 days in SSS detention. However, he has continued to be held despite meeting the bail term as certified by the court.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some\u00a0<strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.premiumtimesng.com\/news\/headlines\/www.premiumtimesng.com\/news\/more-news\/353690-drop-charges-against-sowore-serap-tells-nigerias-attorney-general.html\/amp\/\" target=\"_blank\">civic groups<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0,\u00a0<strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.premiumtimesng.com\/news\/more-news\/354681-lawyers-chide-sss-over-sowore.html\/amp\/\" target=\"_blank\">lawyers<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and joint\u00a0<strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.premiumtimesng.com\/news\/top-news\/354605-sowore-american-nobel-laureate-academics-others-urge-nigeria-to-drop-charges.html\" target=\"_blank\">body of academic<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0have called on the government to drop the charges against Sowore.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By <strong>Premium Times<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, struck a defiant tone when he was quizzed on why the government of President Muhammad Buhari chose to detain Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, for calling for a revolution. Mr Malami had his hands full when he fielded questions on a \u201cFocus on Africa\u201d BBC interview obtained [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":21093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21092\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}