$9.6bn judgment: It’s Wrong for Any Sane Person to Blame Me – Malami
- Says he is not culpable in the award of sum against Nigeria.
- Reveals effort made at finding solution to the problem.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has it was wrong for any sane person to blame him for the United Kingdom court judgment which ruled that Process and Industrial Developments Limited seize $9.6bn in Nigerian assets.
While noting that the contract and the award of the UK court of arbitration preceded his tenure as the AGF, he said he had engaged local and international lawyers to defend the case immediately the award was brought to his knowledge.
Reacting to a statement credited to P&ID that he was responsible for the delay that culminated in the award of $9.6bn penalty, Malami said apart from enlisting the services of the lawyers, as far back as June 2017, he wrote relevant security agencies in Nigeria to investigate the criminal conspiracy and economic sabotage occasioned by the contract.
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According to him, he also engaged in probable out of court settlement negotiations on the matter adding that the records are there to see the effort the current administration made.
The Minister who further revealed that the contract was a 2010 agreement signed five years before the present government took over power while the award by the United Kingdom Court of Arbitration was in June 2014, one year before he was appointed Minister of Justice by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He further stated that as he took steps to engage local and international lawyers to defend Nigeria’s interest once the stupendous award was brought to my knowledge as the chief law officer of the federation.
He mentioned prominent lawyers like Chief Bola Ayorinde, SAN, and Curtis Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, who helped to pursue Nigeria’s interest in the UK court and did their best.
He also stated that as far back as June 2017, a series of letters were written to relevant security agencies in Nigeria to investigate the alleged criminal conspiracy and economic sabotage occasioned by the GSPA contract.
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He added that appropriate steps were taken to intimate relevant government institutions of developments as they unfolded regarding the matter and engaged in probable out of court settlement negotiations.
He, therefore, described the accusation as wrong and unfortunate for any sane person to insinuate or imply that he is in any way culpable regarding the award of $9.6bn against Nigeria when he had no hand whatsoever in the planning, signing and implementation of the gas supply and processing contract in 2010.
