Igboho, an agitator for self-determination for his Yoruba ethnic group, is alleged to receive more than N127 million toward his activities from, according to Attorney General and Minster of Justice Abubakar Malami , ‘‘a federal lawmaker in the National Assembly’’ and of financial dealings with a person linked and convicted in Saudi Arabia of funding terrorism.
Having said this, since the case is in court, it would be reasonable to expect that Mr. Malami should forward these findings to the prosecutor to build his case against such enfant terrible and his group. The federal chief law officer and senior advocate of Nigeria chose to go to the court of public opinion, or put differently, resort to media trial, seemingly in order to bias the mind of the public against the accused.
Mr. Malami reportedly justified going public with his list of accusations because ‘Nigerians, in public interest have to be carried along as relates to the protection of their rights and properties’ One should think that if this public officer is so public- interest minded, those alleged state and non-state backers of Kanu and IPOB should be disclosed to the public too. The public’s right to know in a transparent government requires, nay demands, that the truth and the whole truth be revealed.