Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN has debunked what he
described as mischievous and perfidious reports churned out
especially by online media purportedly alleging “pushing for
payment of”’ contradictory and incongruous figures regarding
judgment debt and Paris Club refund.
![image](/2021/04/banner-law.jpg")
In a statement by Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on
Media and Public Relations, Office of the Attorney General of the
Federation said the initial reaction of Malami was to ignore the
reports for it is palpable for any discerning minds that the report
lacks merit as “evidenced by not only contradictory submissions but
also a hasty collection of feeble fabrications, unsubstantiated
concoctions and figment of imagination of the writer”.
![image](/2021/01/payne-alex.jpg")
The statement reads: “the crux and truth of the matter is that
Malami, Hon Minister of finance, Gambari and indeed the Government
of President Muhammadu Buhari have been applying extra-ordinary due
diligence to avoid whatever was suspected to be suspicious
liability whose antecedents were rooted in past administration in
respect of which Premium Times and Sahara Reporters were allegedly
complicit in failing to question the issues or draw the attention
of the general public to the matter at that time”.
“In order to set the record straight and to clear the
mischievous insinuations and misconceptions intended to be the
aftermath of the report, the record needs to be set straight and in
an attempt to do so, we respond as follows:
The judgment sum in contention relates to the judgment of the
Supreme Court by which parties of interest were adjudged entitled
to $3,188,079,505.96 in the year 2013 before Buhari’s
administration came in place”.
“In view of the enormous volume of the judgment sum and
dwindling resources coupled with the policy imbibed by the Office
of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister
of Justice to save the Government of the Federation of frivolous
liabilities the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation
and Minister of Justice embark on extra-ordinary due diligence
including directing for investigation of the matter by law
enforcement and security agencies with a view to assess the
veracity of the claim in view of the lessons derived from the
fraudulent P&ID case”.
“The genesis of said judgment debts was based on the fact that
some affected Local Governments and ALGON instituted action against
Federal Government of Nigeria in suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/130/13 – LINAS
International LTD & 235 ORS V. Federal Government of Nigeria & 3
ORS to recover the sum of $3,188,079,505.96. Judgment was delivered
in favour of the plaintiffs on 3rd December, 2013 (that is years
before President Muhammadu Buhari came to office and long before
Malami was made a Minister)”.
“Consequently upon a Garnishee Order Absolute was granted in
2016 directing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as Garnishee to
pay $3,188,079,505.96 to the Association of Local Governments of
Nigeria (ALGON). The Garnishee Order was granted by H.B Yusuf (Hon,
Justice)
It is interesting to note that both the Premium Times and Sahara
Reporters have chosen to turn a blind eye to the judgment and its
adverse effect on Nigerian economy when it was delivered and in
effect chose to attack Abubakar Malami who had exerted extra
efforts in saving the nation from the scourge of consequential
liability”.
“In fact even when it became inevitable that the payment had to
be effected with the consent of Governors’ Forum and ALGON, the
office of the Attorney General of the Federation had to extract
undertaking and indemnity from Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and
the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in
2019”.
“The fact is very clear that in consideration of the financial
status and the volume of the transaction, due diligence relating to
contractual undertones and the judgment were carried out by the
Office of the AGF in order to guard the government coffers from
being robbed by some unscrupulous agents like the case of
P&ID”.
“The Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation
and Minister of Justice took steps to be double sure of facts about
the engagements. The Office wrote letters to the Economic and
Fiancial Crimes Commission, the Department of State Service and the
Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) to furnish the
HAGF with facts that will guide the legal oppinion to be proffered
by the HAGF”.
“On 29th day of August, 2018, the Office of the Attorney General
of the Federation and Minister of Justice through the then Director
of Civil Ligitation, E.O. Omonowa, ESQ wrote a letter
(MJ/CIV/ABJ/440/16) to the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the ALGON
seeking among other things:
a) Evidence of the resolution by ALGON to engage Ted Edwards.
Edwards Partners to recover funds related to the refund of Paris
and London debt over-deductions.
b) Evidence of any amount so recovered by Ted Edwards/Edwards and
Partners
c) Evidence of the authorization by the various Local Government
Councils consenting to the payment of professional or legal fee to
Ted Edwards/Edwards and Partners from their portion of refund of
Paris and London debt over deductions,
d) Confirmation of the engagement of Redemption Chambers (E.A
Egbebu &Co) to file an action challenging the judgment obtained
by Ted Edwards/Edwards & Partners against ALGON.
e) Evidence of the resolution by ALGON to award contract to Riok
Nigeria Ltd for the construction of boreholes across the 774
LGAs.
f) Evidence of the execution or performance of the said contract by
Riok Nigeria Ltd.
g) Evidence of the authorization by the various Local Government
Councils to the payment of the contract sum due to Riok Nigeria Ltd
from their portion of refund of Paris and London
over-deductions”.
In a letter titled “Extract of Resolution of the meeting of the
Board on 29/09/2011” Paragraph of 1 of the letter indicated “That
Edwards and Partners Law Firms should be appointed as Solicitors
and Legal Representatives for the Board of Incorporated Trusstees
of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON).
The Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation
and Minister of Justice wrote letters to Law Enforcement and
Security Agencies including the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commissions (EFCC) to conduct independent investigations on the
issue.
Sahara Reporters and Premium Times were not only mischievous but
economical with facts in failing to present the above facts to the
public.
By deliberate design to misrepresent the public, they refused to
draw the attention of the public that the EFCC and other security
agencies had at the request of the office of the Attorney General
investigated this matter and provided investigation report on the
matter, inclusive of an interim report, a work in progress report
and a final report which efforts the two media houses have
mischievously chosen to overlook in their report.
A point of interest is that in the final report of the EFCC
maintained that “the respective judgments obtained by Riok Nig. Ltd
and Edwards & Partners affirming their entitlements to payments
were confirmed by the records obtained from the respective FCT High
Courts”
Findings of the investigation of the Law Enforcement and
Security Agency also revealed that there exists a valid consultancy
and legal service agreement between TED EDWARDS and PARTNERS and
Incorporated Trustees of ALGON for the recovery of Local
Government’s share of London Debt Buy Back and Exist from the
Federal Government of Nigeria consolidated revenue fund.
Contrary to the claim by the Premium Times report that a letter
from ALGON dated September 10th, 2018 denied involvement of Ted
Edwards/Edwards and Partners for the said project, seven years
before the so-called letter ALGON resolved to and did engaged the
parties for the project.
The report concluded that so far, facts of the case as revealed
in the course of investigation do not indicate any act(s) of
criminality on part of the parties in the transaction, please”
Above information were contained in the submission to the OHAGF
dated 13th June, 2017.
It is imperative to further note that at the further request of
the office of the Attorney General to other agencies, all out of
desire to cover the field and have thorough investigation of the
issue an agency wrote to the HAGF and concluded thus:
“With regards to the level of completion of the contract awarded
to RIOK NIG LTD and its physical existence, verification exercise
conducted through the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria
confirmed the existence of the projects. However, while some of
been completed, others are at various stage of completion, The
various stages established are as follows:
Completed 182
Functional 91
Abandoned 33
Ongoing 205
Non Identified 107
Those geographically surveyed 178
The report concluded thus:
“In view of the forgoing, it is humbly recommended that the
Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of
Justice may wish to direct the Federal Ministry of Finance and CBN
Governor to pay the contractor to enable him complete the project
for the benefit of this people”.
The question calling for the consideration of the discerning
publics, against the background of the due diligence carried out by
the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice in this matter is whether the reckless,
mischievous and treacherous conclusion of the Premium Times is
logically and justifiably founded. The answer is logically clear
and indeed led to an irresistible conclusion as follows:
1. The office of the OHAGF has arising from a clear historical
antecedent of the role it has played in the case of P&ID,
remained steadfast in the sustenance of the public interest which
in effect is saving the Federal Government from frivolous financial
liabilities.
2. That extra-ordinary due diligence was carried out by the
OHAGF on the payment of Supreme Court Judgment in contention with
particular regards to the efforts put in place to unravel the
veracity of the claim and whether in fact any fraudulent undertone
could be discovered.
3. The reports and due diligence of the Law Enforcement and
Security agencies provided on this matter speaks for itself as to
the reasonability or otherwise of the mischievous publication of
Premium Times and Sahara Reporters but the fact remains inevitably
glaring that their report is baseless and mischievous
4. That the factual antecedents stated above belies their
titles: “Malami, Gambari Silence Governors’ Forum and Forced CBN to
pay N133bn Judgment Debt”
or perhaps
“Malami Ignored Fraud Warning while pushing payment of
Suspicious N159b Debt”
Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN has debunked what he
described as mischievous and perfidious reports churned out
especially by online media purportedly alleging “pushing for
payment of”’ contradictory and incongruous figures regarding
judgment debt and Paris Club refund.
In a statement by Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on
Media and Public Relations, Office of the Attorney General of the
Federation said the initial reaction of Malami was to ignore the
reports for it is palpable for any discerning minds that the report
lacks merit as “evidenced by not only contradictory submissions but
also a hasty collection of feeble fabrications, unsubstantiated
concoctions and figment of imagination of the writer”.
The statement reads: “the crux and truth of the matter is that
Malami, Hon Minister of finance, Gambari and indeed the Government
of President Muhammadu Buhari have been applying extra-ordinary due
diligence to avoid whatever was suspected to be suspicious
liability whose antecedents were rooted in past administration in
respect of which Premium Times and Sahara Reporters were allegedly
complicit in failing to question the issues or draw the attention
of the general public to the matter at that time”.
“In order to set the record straight and to clear the
mischievous insinuations and misconceptions intended to be the
aftermath of the report, the record needs to be set straight and in
an attempt to do so, we respond as follows:
The judgment sum in contention relates to the judgment of the
Supreme Court by which parties of interest were adjudged entitled
to $3,188,079,505.96 in the year 2013 before Buhari’s
administration came in place”.
“In view of the enormous volume of the judgment sum and
dwindling resources coupled with the policy imbibed by the Office
of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister
of Justice to save the Government of the Federation of frivolous
liabilities the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation
and Minister of Justice embark on extra-ordinary due diligence
including directing for investigation of the matter by law
enforcement and security agencies with a view to assess the
veracity of the claim in view of the lessons derived from the
fraudulent P&ID case”.
“The genesis of said judgment debts was based on the fact that
some affected Local Governments and ALGON instituted action against
Federal Government of Nigeria in suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/130/13 – LINAS
International LTD & 235 ORS V. Federal Government of Nigeria & 3
ORS to recover the sum of $3,188,079,505.96. Judgment was delivered
in favour of the plaintiffs on 3rd December, 2013 (that is years
before President Muhammadu Buhari came to office and long before
Malami was made a Minister)”.
“Consequently upon a Garnishee Order Absolute was granted in
2016 directing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as Garnishee to
pay $3,188,079,505.96 to the Association of Local Governments of
Nigeria (ALGON). The Garnishee Order was granted by H.B Yusuf (Hon,
Justice)
It is interesting to note that both the Premium Times and Sahara
Reporters have chosen to turn a blind eye to the judgment and its
adverse effect on Nigerian economy when it was delivered and in
effect chose to attack Abubakar Malami who had exerted extra
efforts in saving the nation from the scourge of consequential
liability”.
“In fact even when it became inevitable that the payment had to
be effected with the consent of Governors’ Forum and ALGON, the
office of the Attorney General of the Federation had to extract
undertaking and indemnity from Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and
the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in
2019”.
“The fact is very clear that in consideration of the financial
status and the volume of the transaction, due diligence relating to
contractual undertones and the judgment were carried out by the
Office of the AGF in order to guard the government coffers from
being robbed by some unscrupulous agents like the case of
P&ID”.
“The Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation
and Minister of Justice took steps to be double sure of facts about
the engagements. The Office wrote letters to the Economic and
Fiancial Crimes Commission, the Department of State Service and the
Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) to furnish the
HAGF with facts that will guide the legal oppinion to be proffered
by the HAGF”.
“On 29th day of August, 2018, the Office of the Attorney General
of the Federation and Minister of Justice through the then Director
of Civil Ligitation, E.O. Omonowa, ESQ wrote a letter
(MJ/CIV/ABJ/440/16) to the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the ALGON
seeking among other things:
a) Evidence of the resolution by ALGON to engage Ted Edwards.
Edwards Partners to recover funds related to the refund of Paris
and London debt over-deductions.
b) Evidence of any amount so recovered by Ted Edwards/Edwards and
Partners
c) Evidence of the authorization by the various Local Government
Councils consenting to the payment of professional or legal fee to
Ted Edwards/Edwards and Partners from their portion of refund of
Paris and London debt over deductions,
d) Confirmation of the engagement of Redemption Chambers (E.A
Egbebu &Co) to file an action challenging the judgment obtained
by Ted Edwards/Edwards & Partners against ALGON.
e) Evidence of the resolution by ALGON to award contract to Riok
Nigeria Ltd for the construction of boreholes across the 774
LGAs.
f) Evidence of the execution or performance of the said contract by
Riok Nigeria Ltd.
g) Evidence of the authorization by the various Local Government
Councils to the payment of the contract sum due to Riok Nigeria Ltd
from their portion of refund of Paris and London
over-deductions”.
In a letter titled “Extract of Resolution of the meeting of the
Board on 29/09/2011” Paragraph of 1 of the letter indicated “That
Edwards and Partners Law Firms should be appointed as Solicitors
and Legal Representatives for the Board of Incorporated Trusstees
of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON).
The Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation
and Minister of Justice wrote letters to Law Enforcement and
Security Agencies including the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commissions (EFCC) to conduct independent investigations on the
issue.
Sahara Reporters and Premium Times were not only mischievous but
economical with facts in failing to present the above facts to the
public.
By deliberate design to misrepresent the public, they refused to
draw the attention of the public that the EFCC and other security
agencies had at the request of the office of the Attorney General
investigated this matter and provided investigation report on the
matter, inclusive of an interim report, a work in progress report
and a final report which efforts the two media houses have
mischievously chosen to overlook in their report.
A point of interest is that in the final report of the EFCC
maintained that “the respective judgments obtained by Riok Nig. Ltd
and Edwards & Partners affirming their entitlements to payments
were confirmed by the records obtained from the respective FCT High
Courts”
Findings of the investigation of the Law Enforcement and
Security Agency also revealed that there exists a valid consultancy
and legal service agreement between TED EDWARDS and PARTNERS and
Incorporated Trustees of ALGON for the recovery of Local
Government’s share of London Debt Buy Back and Exist from the
Federal Government of Nigeria consolidated revenue fund.
Contrary to the claim by the Premium Times report that a letter
from ALGON dated September 10th, 2018 denied involvement of Ted
Edwards/Edwards and Partners for the said project, seven years
before the so-called letter ALGON resolved to and did engaged the
parties for the project.
The report concluded that so far, facts of the case as revealed
in the course of investigation do not indicate any act(s) of
criminality on part of the parties in the transaction, please”
Above information were contained in the submission to the OHAGF
dated 13th June, 2017.
It is imperative to further note that at the further request of
the office of the Attorney General to other agencies, all out of
desire to cover the field and have thorough investigation of the
issue an agency wrote to the HAGF and concluded thus:
“With regards to the level of completion of the contract awarded
to RIOK NIG LTD and its physical existence, verification exercise
conducted through the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria
confirmed the existence of the projects. However, while some of
been completed, others are at various stage of completion, The
various stages established are as follows:
Completed 182
Functional 91
Abandoned 33
Ongoing 205
Non Identified 107
Those geographically surveyed 178
The report concluded thus:
“In view of the forgoing, it is humbly recommended that the
Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of
Justice may wish to direct the Federal Ministry of Finance and CBN
Governor to pay the contractor to enable him complete the project
for the benefit of this people”.
The question calling for the consideration of the discerning
publics, against the background of the due diligence carried out by
the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice in this matter is whether the reckless,
mischievous and treacherous conclusion of the Premium Times is
logically and justifiably founded. The answer is logically clear
and indeed led to an irresistible conclusion as follows:
1. The office of the OHAGF has arising from a clear historical
antecedent of the role it has played in the case of P&ID,
remained steadfast in the sustenance of the public interest which
in effect is saving the Federal Government from frivolous financial
liabilities.
2. That extra-ordinary due diligence was carried out by the
OHAGF on the payment of Supreme Court Judgment in contention with
particular regards to the efforts put in place to unravel the
veracity of the claim and whether in fact any fraudulent undertone
could be discovered.
3. The reports and due diligence of the Law Enforcement and
Security agencies provided on this matter speaks for itself as to
the reasonability or otherwise of the mischievous publication of
Premium Times and Sahara Reporters but the fact remains inevitably
glaring that their report is baseless and mischievous
4. That the factual antecedents stated above belies their
titles: “Malami, Gambari Silence Governors’ Forum and Forced CBN to
pay N133bn Judgment Debt”
or perhaps
“Malami Ignored Fraud Warning while pushing payment of
Suspicious N159b Debt”