The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi on Tuesday confirmed that over $110 million stolen assets have been returned to Nigeria from various countries.
He disclosed this during budget defence with the House of Representatives’ Committee on Justice chaired by Hon. Olumide Osoba.
The Minister, however failed to give a breakdown of the fund including the $52.88 million recovered assets linked to former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, by the United States (US) government.
He 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 to review contracts, noting that is where most of the damages and risks are.
While speaking on the judgement obtained against government, he recalled that the “Popular case of P&ID, there were so many issues involved including engaging lawyers that are not up to the task.
“Some of these commercial transactions are not given to friends or lawyers merely because they are friends. They must be people who have capacities in terms of training, in terms of experience and we have learnt our lessons in this regard.
“So, we are trying our best to ensure that those we engage are those with certified advisory 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.
“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 however noted that the sub national governments are not recognized in case there are arbitration, stressing that it is the national government that takes such responsibilities.
According to him, back home, the federal government can sub-national 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 the bid to avert future occurrences, he 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 from approving many agreements between foreign agencies
In his address, Hon. Osoba commended the ministry for 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.
“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 defence, Hon. Osoba who 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 comply with the laws of Nigeria.
