As against reports that, Abubakar Malami (SAN) has resigned as the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, the minister on Thursday said his tenure in office has not ended.

Speaking at the annual media conference organised by the National Association of Judiciary Correspondents (NAJUC) held in Abuja, Malami said, there is naturally an end to everything and prayed for a glorious end as AGF and Justice minister.

According to him, those who relied, “On some unprofessional information disseminators will be taken aback that the Malami that was claimed to have resigned was seen in office discharging his functions including attending the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting yesterday (Wednesday), granting interviews to journalists and still today (Thursday) declaring this conference open as the AGF”.

He appealed to journalists to refrain from fake news, defamation, sedition, hate speech, blasphemy, and incitements of inflammatory statements in their reportage and warned against the practice where journalists would be conscripted by agents of destructions to spread false information about personalities and issues.

He said, unprofessional media practitioners have been reporting untrue and fabricated information against public office holders, noting that public officers have been victims of malicious media reports, mischievous and deliberate distortion of facts and posited that, hate speech and fake news challenge the cherished and collective culture of peaceful and harmonious co-existence as a people.

The country, he said cannot afford to spill the beans on account of mischievous actions and inactions of some who claim to be journalists and added that, there will be consequences for the conduct of the journalists that offer themselves to conscription by agents of destruction that make it their stock in trade to spread fake information about personalities and issues.

“Effective legislative framework may be a considerable option. It is high time that we enhance media literacy for Nigerians to appreciate fact-checking and verification of information”, the minister stated.

The Conference, with the theme “The judiciary and 2023 general elections: The way forward”, and “Stemming the tide of conflicting judgements in Nigeria’s judicial system, Enforcement of Court judgments: The obstacles, the remedies as sub-themes, he said, was intended to enhance the skill of Judiciary Correspondents and facilitate effective discharge of their responsibilities as journalists and important members of the society.

The AGF said, it has been the desire of the Federal Government to tame the tide of conflicting judgments and implore due diligence in judicial process.

“Our struggles in the P&ID case symbolize the due diligence policy of the Federal Government as well as the need to address judgment debt in the interest of the Nigerian public. This has been our position on a number of current national issues”.

The AGF office, he said, always insists on “Due diligence, assiduous scrutiny as well as beyond-reasonable-doubt exploration and meticulous examinations in our policy to bequeath the posterity a sound and impeccable precedents in determination of issues. It is unfortunate that these legally recognized processes that we strive to strictly adhere to are misconstrued by mischievous publications to convey negative undertones”.

Earlier in his speech, the chairman of the Abuja chapter of the association, Mr. Kayode Lawal noted with great concern the sharp drop in the financial allocation to the Judiciary arm of the Federal Government, we also noted the refusal of the state government to allow financial autonomy to the judiciary at the state level”, which he said had greatly affected the smooth running of activities of judiciary at the national and state levels.

He called on both the Executive and the Legislature to look into the budgetary allocation to the judiciary, with a view to jerking it up to enable it meet up with the challenges that may arise in the conduct of the 2023 elections.

“We also appealed for appointment of more Justices for the Supreme Court of Nigeria to fill the vacuum already created by retirements and deaths.