New Telegraph

Govs’ve no basis to complain about $418m deduction from Paris Club refund –Malami

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has said that the governors, under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), have no justification to stop the deduction of the sum of $418 million from the Paris Club refund for the payment of the four consultants they hired. The minister, who revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari has not incurred any judgement debt since he came to power in 2015, said this Thursday while responding to questions at a Ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Media Team at the Presidential Villa.

Malami equally disclosed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured conviction of 7118 persons from 2017 till date adding that the government has also raked in the sum of N1, 823,788,146.86 from sale of forfeited assets. Asked to react to the governors’ claim that deduction of $418 million for settlement of the four consultants from the Federation Account was unconstitutional, unlawful and a breach of the rule of law, Malami said they should blame themselves for creating the liability and indemnifying the same. According to him, the NGF made a request for the refund and one of the components was the settlement of the consultants who were engaged by the forum. He recalled that when the Paris Club refund was paid to the states, the governors initially made part payment to the consultants.

The minister explained further that when the governors decided to stop the payment and asked for an out-of-court settlement with the contractors, he advised the President to pay them which obliged after being satisfied that no fraud was involved in the claims. Malami added that he got indemnity from the governors before advising the President to settle the consultants. The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Mala-mi, has said that the governors, under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), have no justification to stop the deduction of the sum of $418 million from the Paris Club refund for the payment of the four consultants they hired. The minister, who revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari has not incurred any judgement debt since he came to power in 2015, said this Thursday while responding to questions at a Ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Media Team at the Presidential Villa.

Malami equally disclosed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured convictionof 7118personsfrom2017 till date adding that the government has also raked in the sum of N1, 823,788,146.86 from sale of forfeited assets. Asked to react to the governors’ claim that deduction of $418 million for settlement of the four consultants from the Federation Account was unconstitutional, unlawful and a breach of the rule of law, Malami said they should blame themselves for creating the liability and indemnifying the same.

According to him, the NGF made a request for the refund and one of the components was the settlement of the consultants who were engaged by the forum. He recalled that when the Paris Club refund was paid to the states, the governors initially made part payment to the consultants. The minister explained further that when the governors decided to stop the payment and asked for an out-of-court settlement with the contractors, he advised the President to pay them which obliged after being satisfied that no fraud was involved in the claims. Malami added that he got indemnity from the governors before advising the President to settle the consultants. He said the country has not incurred any judgement debt since Buhari came to power in 2015.

The AGF said: “Now, coming to the antecedent background of the Paris Club refund, liability or judgment debts related to Paris Club was indeed a liability created by the governor’s forum in their own right. “How do I mean? The Governor’s forum comprising all the governors sat down commonly and agreed on the engagement of consultants to provide certain services for them relating to the recovery of the Paris Club.

So, it was the governor’s forum under the Federal Government in the first place that engaged the consultants. “Two, when eventually, successes were recorded associated with the refund, associated with Paris Club, the governors collectively and individually presented a request to the Federal Government for the refund. And among the components of the claim presented for the consideration of the Federal Government was a component related to the payment of these consultants that now constitute the subject of contention.

So, the implication of that is that the governors in their own right recognised the consultants, recognised their claim and presented such a claim to the Federal Government. “Three, when the claims were eventually processed and paid to the Governor’s Forum, they indeed on their own, without the intervention of the Federal Government took steps to make part payments to the consultants, acknowledging their liability over the same. “And then four, when eventually they made such payments at a point they took a decision to stop the payment.

The consultants instituted an action in court against the Governors’ Forum. And what happened in court? They submitted a consent judgment. They asked and urged the court to allow them to settle out of court. The court granted them an opportunity to settle. They commit terms of settlement in writing, they sign the terms of the settlement, agreeing and conceding that such payments be made to the consultant. “And then five, thereafter, the Federal Government was requested to comply with the judgment and effect payment. The President passed all the requests of the governors to the Office of the Attorney General for consideration.” According to him, 648 cases were instituted against the government at state, federal and ECOWAS courts under the Buhari administration and due to the diligent prosecution by his office, no notable judgment debt has been recorded so far.

Read Previous

US extradites 3 Nigerians from the UK over $5m fraud

Read Next

Reps summon Emefiele, Nami; to probe NNPL’s 200 accounts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *