Fagbemi confirms recovery of $110m stolen assets
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Chief Lateef Fagbemi, on Tuesday confirmed the return of over $110 million in asset recovery from various countries.
The minister, however, failed to give a breakdown of the funds, including the $52.88 million in recovered assets linked to former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, by the United States government.
Fagbemi disclosed this during the 2024 budget defense and 2025 budget proposal held at the instance of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Justice, chaired by Hon. Olumide Osoba.
The minister explained that the ministry has developed a template for most of the agreements and sharing with some of the state governments in order to help them review contracts, noting that this is where most of the damages and risks are.
While speaking on the judgment obtained against the government, he recalled that in the “popular case of P&ID, there were many issues involved, including engaging lawyers who were not up to the task.
He said, “Some of these commercial transactions are not given to friends or lawyers merely because they are friends. They must be people who have capacity in terms of training and experience, and we have learned our lessons in this regard.
“So, we are trying our best to ensure that those we engage are those with certified advisory, as given to us during the P&ID case. That whatever you want to give cases out, you don’t do it out of patronage; we look at the competence of the counsel involved.
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“For instance, the mere fact that you’re a constitutional lawyer in Nigeria does not make you a good commercial lawyer or an arbitrator offshore or even here, so this one we have taken care of.”
While noting that the state governments are at liberty to engage in foreign transactions, he observed that the subnational governments are not recognised in case there is arbitration, stressing that it is the national government that takes such responsibilities.
According to him, back home, the Federal Government can require subnational governments “to pay or indemnify the national government, or if they don’t indemnify, there is an implied condition that you ask them to pay, or you probably deduct it from what is due to them when you’re doing the usual FAAC allocation.”
In a bid to avert future occurrences, the minister assured that measures are being put in place to ensure that agreements are properly signed, adding that there are instances where the ministry has declined to approve many agreements between foreign agencies.
In his address, Osoba commended the ministry for the landmark achievements recorded so far.
“In the past year, Nigeria has witnessed significant judicial decisions that reinforce the principles of justice and governance:
“Supreme Court ruling on Local Government Autonomy: On July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment affirming the financial and administrative autonomy of local governments.
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“This ruling declared it unconstitutional for state governors to withhold funds allocated to local governments or to dissolve local government councils arbitrarily. It recognized local governments as the third tier of Nigeria’s governance structure, thereby strengthening grassroots democracy and enhancing service delivery at the local level.
“P&ID Case Success: Nigeria achieved a significant legal victory in the case against Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID). The court quashed the previous judgment that had imposed a substantial financial liability on the country, thereby safeguarding our national assets and preserving economic stability.
“These judicial outcomes exemplify the robustness of our legal system and underscore the importance of unwavering commitment to justice and the rule of law,” he noted.
Speaking during the review of the 2024 budget defense, Osoba frowned at the failure of the ministry to provide details on the utilisation of N4.7 billion reportedly spent on legal services.
He explained that the ministry is working to ensure that any entity working with Nigeria complies with the laws of Nigeria.
“There’s one critical area where we also, as much as possible, stand our ground, and that is in the area of arbitration, especially the laws that govern administration and the seat that governs arbitration.
“You know it is sad to experience a situation or situations in which people come here to take our money and still want the seat of arbitration outside Nigeria and the relevant laws that govern their transactions to be laws in England. So, they have to choose to do business with us, take our money, and also comply with our own laws here.
“And so, we have the Arbitration and Prosecution Act, which was passed into law in 2023. This has significantly impacted our fortunes in this regard.”
The lawmakers also accused the Ministry of usurping the powers of Parliament by re-appropriating the approved funds for the 2024 fiscal year for other purposes not approved by Parliament without due process.
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