A Tale of Two Leaders: The Fates of Sambo Dasuki and Abubakar Malami
Nigeria’s political landscape is often shaped by the principle that what you do unto others shall, in time, be done unto you. Nowhere is this more evident than in the contrasting fates of two high-profile figures: Sambo Dasuki and Abubakar Malami. Their stories reveal a pattern of executive overreach, judicial disregard, and the consequences of political vendettas.
The Case of Sambo Dasuki
Sambo Dasuki, a former National Security Adviser (NSA), was arrested in late 2015 and charged with money laundering related to arms-procurement funds during the Jonathan administration. However, his story is not just about corruption—it is a tale of systemic abuse of power. During his tenure as NSA, Dasuki played a key role in reclaiming towns from terrorists, and banditry had not yet taken root in the Northwest or North-Central regions. Despite these achievements, he faced a relentless campaign against him.
Dasuki’s ordeal included multiple court-ordered bail, which he met without issue, only to be re-arrested each time without new charges. This cycle continued until he became the only public official in Nigerian history to remain in detention despite bail orders from four different courts, including the ECOWAS Court. His treatment was emblematic of a broader trend under the Buhari administration, where the rule of law was systematically undermined.
One particularly troubling incident involved Abubakar Malami, then Attorney-General of the Federation, who falsely claimed in a VOA interview that Dasuki had killed 100,000 people. This misinformation led to Malami being summoned before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee in 2019, where he eventually recanted. President Buhari later made the administration’s stance clear, declaring that Dasuki would not be released regardless of court orders and describing him as a security risk. This was a rare moment of open executive contempt for judicial authority.
The Rise of Media Trials
The Buhari era also normalised media trials, where citizens were convicted in the court of public opinion long before any judge had ruled. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Services (DSS) were the most notorious instruments of this strategy. The case of Colonel Nicholas Ashinze illustrates this vividly. Ashinze, a military intelligence officer, faced charges even as the EFCC issued an inaccurate statement that provoked a judicial rebuke.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole condemned the EFCC’s conduct, calling it “scandalous and prejudicial to fair trial.” He ordered the agency to apologise publicly to Ashinze and suspended the trial. The EFCC complied, attributing the falsehoods to an internal “mix-up.” Similarly, the arms probe panel under the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), chaired by Air Vice Marshal Jon Odeh, was disbanded after members were indicted for receiving bribes from those they investigated. These episodes underscored the institutional impunity that characterised the period.
The Human Cost
Perhaps the most heartbreaking dimension of Dasuki’s ordeal was the treatment of his father, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, former Sultan of Sokoto. Despite repeated appeals, he was denied permission to visit his son in detention and died without seeing him. This act was widely condemned as unnecessary cruelty—an example of how political rivalry had crossed into something far more callous.
By contrast, when the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu detained former Kaduna Governor Nasir el-Rufai over corruption charges, he was immediately released following his mother’s death. While I welcomed the gesture, I wished that the mercy had come earlier and that no public official should spend more than a month in custody merely awaiting trial.
The Fate of Abubakar Malami
Dasuki was eventually released on Christmas Eve 2019, after Buhari’s re-election. His freedom—coming after more than four years in detention—felt less like justice and more like a political calculation that had finally run its course.
Contrast this with the treatment of Abubakar Malami, who served as Attorney-General and Minister of Justice from 2015 to 2023. In 2025, Malami was arrested by the EFCC on allegations ranging from corruption and acquisition of exotic properties to terrorism-related offences and illegal possession of firearms.
The irony is unmistakable. Malami was the chief law officer who authorised and supervised the prosecution of Dasuki. He wielded the machinery of state prosecution against perceived opponents for eight years. Now he sits where they once sat—on the receiving end of the same system he helped to shape.
Yet there is a crucial difference. Within two months, Malami was granted bail by both the EFCC and the DSS. There were no sensational media trials. No re-arrests after meeting bail conditions. No presidential declarations that he would remain detained regardless of court orders. Whatever one thinks of the current administration’s handling of the matter, the contrast with the Dasuki precedent is stark.
The Legacy of the Buhari Administration
The Buhari administration’s disregard for due process extended beyond political opponents. On June 9, 2016, the Nigerian Army summarily retired 38 senior officers—nine major generals, eleven brigadier generals, seven colonels, and eleven lieutenant colonels. They learned of their retirement through the media. Despite vague allegations of “professional corruption,” none was formally accused, charged, or tried under military law.
These were decorated officers. Colonel Mohammed Suleiman had foiled a Boko Haram attack on Aso Rock. Colonel Danladi Hassan had led troops in reclaiming territories, while Lt. Colonel Mohammed Abdulfatai commanded a special counterinsurgency operation in Konduga that resulted in the elimination of more than 200 terrorists in December 2014. Yet they were dismissed without the dignity of a fair hearing.
The National Industrial Court ruled six times that the retirements were unlawful and ordered reinstatement with full benefits. The Senate and House of Representatives reached the same conclusion. The Army ignored them all. One officer, Ojebo Ochankpa, died in 2017 while awaiting justice.
Nearly a decade later, most remain unreinstated—vindicated by every court, yet denied the justice those courts prescribed. This is the legacy of the administration that Malami served and defended. By any honest measure, it was one of the most lawless periods in Nigeria’s democratic history.
While we must insist that Malami receive the fair trial that Dasuki was denied, we must also demand accountability for those who orchestrated past abuses—not through fresh lawlessness, but through the very institutions they once undermined. What you do unto others shall be done unto you. The real question is whether, this time, we will do it better.
