News

Security Agencies To Probe Ex-AGF Malami Over $17m ‘Bonanza For Lawyers’, Other Deals

Published

1 year ago

Jul 24, 2023.

Eko Hot Blog reports that the immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, is set to be questioned over at least five suspicious transactions during his time in office.

According to a report by TheCable on Monday, an undisclosed security agency will handle the investigation.

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The online news agency listed the five questionable deals under scrutiny as:

The mysterious payment of $496 million to Global Steel Holdings Ltd (GSHL) as settlement for the termination of the Ajaokuta Steel concession nine years after the Indian company had waved all claims for compensation
His handling of the sale of assets worth billions of naira forfeited to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by politically exposed persons
His role in the $419 million judgment debt awarded to consultants who claimed to have facilitated the Paris Club refunds to the states
The strange agreement to pay Sunrise Power $200 million compensation in its dispute with the federal government over the Mambilla power project
The duplicated legal fees in the transfer of $321 million Abacha loot from Switzerland to Nigeria.

AJAOKUTA DEAL

In September 2022, Malami announced that the federal government had finally resolved the “long-standing contractual dispute” with Global Steel over the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL) and the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO), Itakpe, concessions.

The then AGF said the agreement had rescued the Nigerian steel, iron ore and rail industries “from a variety of interminable and complex disputes.”

He said instead of paying the original claim of $5.258 billion by GSHL over the termination of the concessions by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, Nigeria had secured a 91 percent reduction and would pay $496 million only.

However, the legacy allegations of asset stripping, tax evasion and violation of the terms of agreement remain unresolved.

SALE OF RECOVERED ASSETS

In August 2022, Ladidi Mohammed, head of asset recovery and management unit, Ministry of Justice, was grilled by the EFCC over allegations of fraud but no charges were brought against her.

Mohammed, who is very close to Malami, was grilled over allegations of fraudulent sale of recovered assets worth billions.

She reportedly told EFCC that she acted under the former AGF’s instructions in disposing of some assets which were forfeited to the federal government by persons undergoing corruption trials. She was unable to produce any documented evidence to back her claims but said instructions were given to her verbally.

Malami had reportedly secretly granted a company and its attorneys a multibillion-naira assets recovery contract.

The AGF gave the firm, Gerry Ikputu & Partners, an estate valuer, the task of recovering significant tracts of lands and structures believed to belong to the federal government in 10 states and the federal capital territory (FCT), Abuja. The firm also hired a legal firm, M. E. Sheriff & Co, to act as its agent.

The AGF and the justice ministry came under the spotlight for their role in the recovery and sale of assets which was supposed to be the duty of the EFCC.

Itse Sagay, then chairman of the presidential advisory committee against corruption (PACAC), had said there was no justification for engaging private firms to execute the recovery the anti-graft agencies were competent to do.

ALLEGED COLLUSION WITH PARIS CLUB REFUNDS ‘CONSULTANTS’

In one of the most controversial cases under Malami’s tenure, some consultants, who claimed to have helped the states calculate their share of the Paris Club refunds, sued the federal government to court demanding to be paid their fees.

Malami, in what the governors described as a case of collusion but which he denies, opted for an out-of-court settlement. He agreed that the states — which were still vigorously disputing the claims — would pay $418 million to the consultants and the monies would be deducted from their federation allocations over time.

Ned Nwoko, the senator representing Delta north, was to get $68,658,192.83, while Ted Isighohi Edwards would receive $159,000,000. Others are: Riok Nig. Limited, $142,028,941.95; Orji Orizu, $1,219,440.45; Olaitan Bello, $215,195.36; and Panic Alert Security Systems Limited, $47.821,920.

This generated a public spat between Malami and the governors. While President Muhammadu Buhari initially withheld consent, he eventually approved and the consultants were given promissory notes. A federal high court sitting in Abuja has now restrained the consultants from transacting with the promissory notes.

In August 2022, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) said the consultants were using Malami “to hustle” the states’ funds.

Malami said that the NGF had no basis to reject the proposed deduction of $418 million, adding that the consultants’ claims were justified.

MAMBILLA POWER

Early 2020, Malami committed the federal government to paying Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (SPTCL) $200 million to as “final settlement” of the dispute over the Mambilla power project in Taraba state.

He also agreed to pay a penalty of 10 per cent in case of a default in fulfilling the settlement agreement — in addition to restoring Sunrise as the local content partner for the $5.8 billion hydroelectric project.

But Babatunde Fashola, who was minister of power, had contended in 2017 that there was no breach of contract as Sunrise had not done any work to warrant any demand or arbitration. Fashola also questioned the integrity of the contract.

In a memo to Buhari dated March 26, 2020, Malami asked him to approve the payment of $200 million to Sunrise Power as “full and final settlement” to discontinue the arbitration in Paris and set the government free from all liabilities in the dispute.

However, the former president, in his reply dated Monday, April 20, said: “FG does not have USD 200 million to pay SPTCL”.

The case is still in arbitration.

ABACHA LOOT: $17 MILLION ‘BONANZA FOR LAWYERS’

In 1999, federal government engaged the services of Enrico Monfrini, a Swiss lawyer, to help trace, identify, freeze and recover all looted funds traced to Sani Abacha, Nigeria’s military ruler, from 1993 to 1998.

After seven years of work, including investigations and litigation across various countries, Monfrini traced and recovered $321 million from Luxemborg banks.

The funds were domiciled with the government of Switzerland in 2014 pending a final request for transfer from Nigeria. Monfrini and other lawyers involved had also been paid their fees, with the Swiss getting about $12 million.

However, Malami, rather than write directly to the Swiss authorities to seek the transfer of the funds to Nigeria, engaged Oladipo Okpeseyi and Temitope Adebayo, two Nigerian lawyers, to do the job again. Their involvement was basically to write to the Swiss authorities to return the funds to Nigeria as there was no asset tracing and recovery involved again.

They were paid $17 million as “professional fees” for writing the letter — more than the Swiss lawyer who traced and recovered the funds over a period of seven years. Okpeseyi and Adebayo were both members of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the party founded by Buhari to contest in the 2011 presidential election. Malami was the legal adviser to the party.