The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has come under fire from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), who have labelled his recent assertions and actions over the $418 million Paris Club refund as dishonest and self-serving.
After a meeting on Wednesday, the group’s chairman, Kayode Fayemi, informed the media that the Forum would use every legal and constitutional tool at its disposal to make sure that the Supreme Court would properly litigate the alleged consultancies.
The Minister of Justice had previously claimed that since the Governors had received indemnification and agreed that such payments should be paid to the consultants, they had no grounds to object to the planned deductions of $418 million from the Paris Club refund.
The NGF Chairman argued that there is no state liability and that the question of whether the NGF states are in fact liable must be decided by the courts. He claims that Mister Malami is operating in both his own and the public’s best interests.
In a communique at the end of the meeting, it added: “The Forum extensively reviewed the purported attempt by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Minister of Finance (HMF) to circumvent the law and a recent judgement of the Supreme Court to secure the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to effect payment of the sum of US$418 million to contractors who allegedly executed consultant in respect to the Paris Club refunds to the state and local governments.
“A committee was set up comprising the Chairman, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, and Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State to interface with the committee set up by Mr. President to review the matter.”
