Nigerian-born Kelechi Madu suspended as Alberta's justice minister over traffic incident

NIGERIAN-born lawyer Kelechi Madu who was appointed as Alberta's justice minister last year has been suspended from duties following a traffic violation controversy that happened in March last year.

Mr Madu, 48,  who was appointed as the justice minister and solicitor general of the Canadian province of Alberta in August 2020, was born and raised in southeast Nigeria and graduated from the University of Lagos with a law degree in 2001. He has practised law in both Nigeria and Alberta and he and his wife relocated to Canada in 2005.

On April 30, 2019, he was appointed to the executive council of Alberta as the minister of municipal affairs before becoming justice minister last year. Mr Madu, a member of the United Conservative Party, is the first Nigerian-born cabinet member in Alberta.

He is now facing difficulties, however, as yesterday, Jason Kenney, Alberta's premier announced that he has asked Mr Madu to step back from his duties. Taking to Twitter to announce the decision, Mr Kenney, said: “In the interim period, I have asked Minister Madu to step back from his ministerial duties.”

Apparently, Mr Madu has been accused of contacting police chief, Dale McFee, to rescind a ticket after he was ticketed in March 2021. Mr Kenney tweeted that he conveyed his profound disappointment in Mr Madu’s decision to contact the Edmonton police chief after receiving a ticket for a traffic violation.

Mr Kenney said: "Minister Sonya Savage will act as minister of justice and solicitor-general during minister Madu’s leave of absence. Minister Madu told me that he did not ask to have the ticket rescinded, nor was it his intention to interfere in the case and that he promptly paid the ticket.

"I understand that Chief McFee has confirmed that at no time did the minister seek to have the ticket rescinded. Nevertheless, it’s essential the independent administration of justice is maintained.

"That’s why I will appoint a respected independent investigator to review the relevant facts and to determine whether there was interference in the administration of justice in this case. Details about the independent review will be made public in the near future."

In March 2021, Mr Madu was pulled over and fined $300 for being on his cellphone in a school zone. Apparently, he then phoned Dale McFee, the city’s chief of police and discussed the violation with him.

Mr McFee said: “Minister Madu did contact me via the telephone concerned about a ticket. But just to be very, very clear, he never asked to get out of the ticket.”

He added that during the call, Mr Madu expressed concern about people of colour being stopped by police and discussed political tension with the Lethbridge Police Service. At the time, the provincial government was preparing to step in after reports of unlawful surveillance and database searches conducted by Lethbridge officers on Shannon Phillips during her time as environment minister.

Mr Madu added: “The officer indicated that he had observed me driving while distracted, alleging that I was on my phone. I disagreed, stating that I was not on my phone, as it was in an inside pocket.

“Due to the timing of the incident, I wanted to ensure that I was not being unlawfully surveilled following the controversy surrounding the Lethbridge Police Service. I also raised concerns around profiling of racial minorities that was in the media at the time.

“Chief McFee assured me that that was most definitely not the case and I accepted him at his word. I regret raising the issue at all with the Chief McFee.”