Former Presidential Candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has taunted former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, over his ongoing corruption trial, declaring that “the system” Malami once deployed against dissent was now turning against him.
Malami was Nigeria’s Chief Law Officer when Sowore was tried by different agencies in the last administration.
However, when both men met at the court lobby in Abuja, Sowore took on the former minister ahead of proceedings linked to the 16-count money laundering charge filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Addressing the former justice minister, Sowore recalled his prosecution under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari and suggested Malami was now facing the consequences of the same system he once defended.
“You see how it feels now to be persecuted. When you were with Buhari at that time, you were bragging. We warned you then that there is failure in the justice system, but you didn’t listen, and now the system is dealing with you,” Sowore said.
“When you were in Buhari’s government, you were saying Sowore committed treason. See as they are dealing with you now.”
Sowore went further, attempting to hand Malami a ‘Revolution Now’ cap, saying the former minister had now seen the failure of the system and should join his movement.
“Let us give him a revolution cap. We want to recruit you now that you know there is failure in the system,” he said.
Malami rejected the gesture.
“I have my own cap,” he replied.
The former Attorney-General also pushed back when Sowore said the “table had turned,” insisting his circumstances did not amount to defeat.
“I can never be down as far as Nigeria is concerned,” Malami said, adding that “The table has its own wheel.”
The verbal exchange revived tensions dating back to 2019 when Sowore was arrested by the Department of State Services over his “Revolution Now” protest campaign and charged with treasonable felony, money laundering and insulting the president.
He spent months in detention during the Buhari administration.
Malami, who served as Attorney-General between 2015 and 2023, is currently facing prosecution over alleged financial crimes.
The Federal government had earlier amended the charges against him and his son, Abdulaziz, dropping allegations related to terrorism financing.
The latest confrontation briefly shifted to politics when Sowore asked whether Malami still attended meetings of the opposition African Democratic Congress.
“I have been attending, even though I couldn’t attend the Ibadan summit, tables keep turning and I will keep sitting by the table”, Malami responded.
This is not the first time that Sowore would aim a dig at Malami.
Last year when the former Minister was in detention at Kuje Prison, Sowore alleged that Malami reached out to him for support.
