AGF Malami draws battle line with IOCs over alleged moves to malign him in efforts to recover unpaid N20trn

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Justice Minister Abubakar Malami, on Thursday, said he had no ulterior motives in efforts to recover the upaid arrears of N20 trillion by International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in the country.

Explaining that his efforts are not motivated by personal gains, the minister warned the oil companies and their allies against campaign of calumny, evasive, dilly-dallying techniques and tactics.

Malami gave the warning in a statement by his media aide, Dr. Jibrilu Gwandu, adding that he was determined to protect his integrity against individuals and corporate personalities bent on tarnishing his reputation.

Malami’s warning came against backdrop of insinuations that the recovery process was allegedly being motivated by personal gains.

According to the minister, the matter was “neither propelled by any ulterior motive nor about gratification of any personal desire through any percentage to be given to the recovery agent, but of an unflinching patriotic commitment to get back to the country the revenue it deserves”.

He said further: “It has never been the tradition of the Attorney-General of the Federation to demand much-less of accepting a kobo on matters relating to such engagements and conduct of his official duties. Multiple agents were overtime engaged in that respect without pecuniary consideration.

“The process of payment of professional fee is exclusive function of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.”

The minister also noted that it had never been the tradition of the Office of the AGF to effect payment of the professional fees.

“It is a function exclusively vested in Federal Ministry of Finance, which has the right to vet, confirm and interrogate issues before any payment is made. And payments are made upon recovery directly to the recovery agent and not to the Office of Attorney-General.

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“Rather than adopt campaign of calumny, evasive and dilly-dally techniques and tactics, the oil companies and their allies should channel such efforts toward paying the Federal Government its due to execute more developmental projects in the country,” he said.

The also explained that Trobell International Limited was the agency that originally came up with the idea of the liabilities of the oil companies for the consideration of the government.

He said: “The Supreme Court case to that effect was a product of joint efforts and understanding established by the parties at the instance of the company.

“Subsequent actions thereof, inclusive of the court case and engagement of professionals for forensic analysis that established the case and the liability in quantum, were all the products of Trobell’s initiatives.

“For the avoidance of any allusions of securing any personal gains, the AGF has established a tradition of presenting for the consideration of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) contentious issues that border on payment of professional fees for Council’s approval.”

The minister also revealed that he had “established a tradition of being open and transparent through subjecting contentious payment of professional fees to FEC’s approval”.

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