- The AGF, Abubakar Malami, has disclosed that instead of paying $85m, the UK govt released only $70m from the proceeds of the Malabu oil deal
- According to the minister, the federal govt is reportedly making issues over the $15m balance
- Malami also refuted reports that he had advised the president to stop the trial of the immediate past AGF and a former Petroleum Resources Minister, over the controversial oil deal
Abubakar Malami, attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, has stated that Nigeria has been paid the sum of $70m by the United Kingdom, from the controversial Malabu oil deal, Punch reports.
Malami had announced the sum of $85m as the money expected to be recovered from the UK in respect of the Malabu deal; and the payment made is short of $15m.
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NAIJ.com gathers that the minister disclosed that only $15m was paid because there were deductions made by the British government; however, he stated that the federal government was making issues over the balance.
He stated: “There were deductions at the end, and the amount so far remitted is over $70m, even though we are making issues out of the balance.”
Malami also reacted to reports that President Muhammadu Buhari had overruled his advice that the trial of the immediate past AGF, Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke; a former Petroleum Resources Minister, Dan Etete; and other suspects be stopped due to lack of evidence.
Malami had reportedly requested that the federal government stop the trial and enter into negotiations with various parties in the OPL 245 so that the exploration of the oil field could commence instead.
The minister described the reports as being mischievous, as he stated that he had not asked the EFCC to stop the trial of the suspects, but to carry out further investigations.
In his words: “It was never about not prosecuting but enhancing investigation.”
Malami stressed that the letter to Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of the anti-graft commission, had only requested that further investigations be conducted into the scam; and for the EFCC to ensure that legal action was instituted in the UK to freeze the $1.1bn proceeds of the scandal.
He stated: “The position conveyed to the EFCC was a directive to enhance the quality of investigation and file an injunction to freeze the $1.1bn in contention, while the case was being prosecuted.”
Malami disclosed that his office was able to secure the release of $70m after it took up the option of pursuing a freezing order when the EFCC allegedly refused to take the step.
He said: “The freezing option not utilised by the EFCC had already yielded fruit with the Office of the Attorney General recovering part of it in the UK where over $70,000,000 was already recovered.”
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that a group, the Al-Mushahid Initiative for Transparency and Accountability (AITA), urged President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore the letter written to him by the AGF, Abubakar Malami, advising him to stop the legal battles against the principal actors in the controversial Malabu oil deal.
The president of AITA Ambassador, Aminu Abubakar Majidadi, told newsmen that asking President Buhari to stop his administration from prosecuting the former petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke and ex-AGF, Mohammed Adoke over their roles in the controversial Malabu oil deal was same as asking the president to publicly renounce his anti-corruption efforts.
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Source: Naija.ng