We’ve Made Huge Assets, Funds Recoveries, Strengthened Anti-Corruption Fight Laws, Says Malami

L-R: Out gone Minister of Justice, Abubakar  Malami handing over to the Solicitor General of the Federation/Permanent Secretary of ministry of justice, Dayo Apata on Tuesday, 28/05/2017

****As Staff Demands His Reappointment

By CLEMENT NWOJI, Abuja

The out gone Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has reeled out measures and initiatives taken by the ministry to boost recovery of stolen assets and funds as well as strengthen the anti-corruption fight by Federal Government of Nigeria.

This is even as he said the Ministry has turned into one of the veritable revenue generating agency of the government under his administration through recovery of assets and funds.

He stated these during his handover to the Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Mr. Dayo Apata on Tuesday to mark the end of his tenure.

The hand over ceremony coincided with the inauguration of the Boards of the agencies and parastatals under the ministry of justice, whom he charged to ensure that they put in their wealth of experiences to facilitate diligent performance of functions of the various parastatals so as to realise the next level of development of the country by government.

He said his office has worked with anti-corruption agencies, law enforcement and security agencies in the recovery of public funds stolen domestically and those transferred to offshore.

Malami cited that there had been increased international engagement with more than seven countries, namely United Kingdom, United States of America, Switzerland, France, Italy, Island of Jersey, and United Arab Emirate to ensure that all assets stolen from Nigeria were returned for the development of schools, power and health sectors, and to reduce poverty through funding of the social investment programs and youth empowerment programs.

According to him, “I was granted mandate by FEC vide approval in EC (2017) 232 of 1st November, 2017 to execute on behalf of the Federal Government, a Tripartite Agreement with the Swiss Federal Council and the World Bank for the repatriation of $321Million Abacha Loot. Following negotiations, we were able to finalize and sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between World Bank, Nigeria and Switzerland. The MOU sets out the modalities for the early return and transparent management of $322.5Million stolen assets from Switzerland.

“The fund has since been repatriated back to Nigeria and is now being managed by the National Social Investment Office under the supervision of the World Bank. It is aimed to support households who are living below poverty line across the country.

“I have also led the Nigerian team in the signing of MOU on the modalities for the return of stolen assets between Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Negotiations are underway for the return of $500 Million worth of assets located in the United States, Island of Jersey and France; The recovery to the Federal Government of Nigeria of over $73 Million as Ordered by the UK Commercial Court being part of the proceeds from the sale of OPL 245 by Malabu Oil and Gas Company to ENI/SHELL.

“The Office of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation has also recovered the sums of N 59,163,029,949.46 (Fifty-Nine Billion, One Hundred and Sixty-three Million, Twenty-Nine Thousand, Nine Hundred and Forty-Nine Naira, Forty-Six Kobo) and $385,495,900.00 (Three Hundred and Eighty-Five Million, Four Hundred and Ninety-Five Thousand, Nine Hundred Dollars) locally; recovery of the total sum of $779,495,900.00 and N59,163,029,949.46 respectively by the Ministry under my watch.

“On recoveries generally, Ladies and Gentlemen, it may interest you to know that as at 29th May, 2015, the balance in the recovery account of the Federal Government of Nigeria stands at N19,524,490,207B. (N19.5B). The balance has geometrically increased to N279,047,318,400B (N279B) as at 22nd November, 2017 and counting. This represents an increase of 1,329%!

“I am glad to say that the Asset Recovery and Management Unit (ARMU) of the Ministry of Justice has played a critical role and has been strategically instrumental to this administration’s aggressive recovery drive and associated successes;
generating Executive Bills and advising Mr. President on Bills presented for Assent by the National Assembly.

“To ensure that Nigeria’s anti-corruption polices and laws are in compliance with international standards, the Federal Ministry of Justice inaugurated a Law Review Team to facilitate the review of existing Laws relating to Anti-Corruption, Transparency and Accountability in Governance.

“The Review Team proposed new Bills that addressed the limitations in existing laws. The proposed bills include: The Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Bill 2017;
Anti-Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Bill 2017; Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit Bill 2017;
Proceeds of Crime Bill 2017;
Public Interest Disclosure and Witness Protection Bill, 2017 and
The Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill, 2017.

“Owing to these efforts, the NFIU Act was passed and assented to by President Buhari in July, 2018. Our contributions in facilitating the prompt passage of Nigerian Financial Intelligence Agency Act prevented the expulsion of Nigeria from the EGMONT Group- which expulsion was embarrassingly imminent at the time.”

The handover ceremony witnessed expression of emotions by the management and staff of the Ministry lead by the Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Dayo Apata, who applauded the achievements of the Minister and expressed their desire for his reappointment to enable him continue the good work he commenced in the ministry.

The full text of his speech reads:

REMARKS OF
MR. ABUBAKAR MALAMI SAN,
DELIVERED AT THE HANDING OVER CEREMONY MARKING THE END OF HIS TERM OF OFFICE AS THE HONOURABLE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE HELD AT OLUSEGUN OBASANJO AUDITORIUM, FEDERAL MINISTRY OF JUSTICE ABUJA
ON TUESDAY 28TH MAY, 2019

Protocols:

‘’ All the world’s a stage,
And all men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances…’’

– William Shakespeare

As today marks my exit day as a player in the service of the nation as the Chief Law Officer, it is my pleasure to express my gratitude to God standing before you here this evening to make these remarks; being a reflection on my time in the Federal Ministry of Justice as Nigeria’s Chief Law Officer, considering the onerous responsibilities and several challenges of the Office. Today’s event is truly a confirmation that there is indeed a time for everything under the sun; a time to resume and a time to exit.

As we are all aware, the role of Law as a fundamental instrument of social engineering cannot be over-stated, for without Law there can be no society. In this regard, the strategic position of the Ministry coordinating the workings of the Law in any given society can thus not be over-emphasized.

Consequently, the task trusted on whoever is the Attorney General of a nation so diversified and complex like ours could be daunting and extremely enormous. At the risk of sounding immodest, to be the Chief Law Officer of Nigeria, with responsibility for the maintenance of the Constitution and all Laws made by the National Assembly is no mean feat.

What is more, in our peculiar case, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR has, since the beginning of this administration demonstrated a unique commitment to tackling some of the most fundamental challenges facing us as a nation in the three areas of Corruption, Economy and Security. It is without doubt that these policy areas are intricately intertwined with the Law without which they are dead. Needless to say that President Buhari’s Policy thrust has put the Ministry of Justice on serious work mode from the first day.
As we may recall, in my inaugural speech of 12th November 2015, I stated that: ‘’my administration shall build on the foundation laid by previous Attorneys General but would however be creative and innovative and will encourage innovators/contributors of good ideas.”

The foregoing has been my guiding principle in the performance of my duties and I am glad to report at this auspicious occasion that the resolve has led to a number of achievements.
In sum, may I humbly state that under my watch, some of the major contributions and achievements of the Federal Ministry of Justice to the Federal Republic of Nigeria include:
drafting of Presidential Executive Order Nos. 6 and 8 on the Preservation of Assets Connected with Corruption and Voluntary Offshore Assets Regularisation Scheme (VOARS) respectively. These instruments have uniquely revolutionized the War against corruption in Nigeria.

In my capacity as the Coordinator of the Implementation of Executive Order No. 6, and working with other Enforcement Authorities such as the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, the Nigerian Immigration among others, I have ensured that assets connected to corruption belonging to anyone subject to corruption related investigation or prosecution are duly protected. As regards VOARS, the overall essence of the Scheme is to track, stop and get all illicit financial flows. After several months of serious background work and planning, on 2nd April 2019, VOARS was unveiled by my Office in collaboration with the Minister of Finance.

The Office of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is currently developing Regulations pursuant to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit Act for operationalization of the VOARS. Modest projection for recoveries for the Government and people of Nigeria the Scheme is 800 Million Euros within the span of 12 months; establishment of a Virtual Automated Case Management System by the Federal Government of Nigeria to integrate Prosecution Datawith the existing Prison Information Management System by incorporating an Integrated Biometrics Prisoners Information Technology to fast track Prison Decongestion in Nigeria. The contract to implement this Project was awarded by the Federal Executive Council in favour of Messrs Virtusync Limited/Messrs International Records Management Trust following the presentation of a Federal Executive Council (FEC) Memo in that regard by the Federal Ministry of Justice. It is expected that this Project will bring a holistic improvement in the efficiency of the entire Justice Sector through transparency in detentions, investigations, clarity in prison operations, proper arraignment and speedy discharge of justice. In addition, it will bring about transparency in the prison population at a glance, prevent the incident of “ghost prisoners” and help the government to accurately budget annually; on going effective decongestion of Nigeria Prisons pursuant to the activities of the Presidential Committee on Prisons Reform and Decongestion headed by the Honourable Chief Judge of the FCT High Court.

I inaugurated this Committee on 31stOctober 2017 pursuant to the FEC directive EC (2017) 131.The Committee has since its inauguration visited and appraised thirty-two (32) prisons in fourteen (14) States of the Federation. A total number of Three Thousand, Seven Hundred and Forty (3,740),have so far been released during these visits via payment of fines for convicts for minor offences with the option of fine who are unable to pay the fines, general review of peculiar cases and advocacy overtures to relevant authorities;
design of Broad Policy Framework inter alia for improving the Judicial Process and Access to Justice such as:(i) assessment of criminal cases that were being prosecuted by lay police Prosecutors before the enactment of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015; (ii) establishment of Justice Sector Reform Committees in about twenty-six States of the Federation,and (iii) provision of Sentencing Guidelines for Judicial Officers; facilitating International and National Cooperation in the Recovery of Stolen Assets; Open Government Partnership (OGP) Initiatives,Anti-Corruption Law/Policy and Electoral Law Reforms. For instance, the FEC in consideration of Memorandum EC (2017) 143 as presented by my humble self approved the adoption and implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and directed the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to come up with a robust implementation plan. In carrying out the directive, we have established a Secretariat in the Ministry for the implementation of the Strategy; in addition, an inter-agency technical committee has been constituted to drive the implementation of the Plan.

The Federal Ministry of Justice under my watch has consequently released the National Anti-Corruption Strategy Framework for collaboration by all the relevant agencies. The Strategy Framework which revolves around five pillars as follows: (a) prevention of corruption, (b) public enlightenment, (c) campaign for ethical reorientation, (d) enforcements and sanctions and (e) recovery of proceeds of corruption, is inter alia designed to identify and close existing gaps in the anti-corruption initiatives currently in place in Nigeria, and emphasize the institutionalization of result-based systems and structures as well as appropriate incentives for increasing and sustaining citizens’ anti-corruption crusade; ensuring the effective implementation of preventive anti-corruption policies such as the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the Bank Verification Number (BVN), unprecedented implementation of the Code of Conduct Legislations and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). Whilst some of the above did not originate with the current government, we have nevertheless given life to same through effective implementation;
coordinating implementation of the Asset Recovery Campaign of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

In this regard, the Office of Honourable Attorney General of the Federation has worked with anti-corruption agencies, law enforcement and security agencies in the recovery of public funds stolen domestically and those transferred to offshore.

Additionally, there has been increased international engagement with more than seven countries, namely United Kingdom, United States of America, Switzerland, France, Italy, Island of Jersey, and United Arab Emirate. This is to ensure that all assets stolen from Nigeria are returned for the development of schools, power and health sectors, and to reduce poverty through funding of the social investment programs and youth empowerment programs. I was granted mandate by FEC vide approval in EC (2017) 232 of 1st November, 2017 to execute on behalf of the Federal Government, a Tripartite Agreement with the Swiss Federal Council and the World Bank for the repatriation of $321Million Abacha Loot. Following negotiations, we were able to finalize and sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between World Bank, Nigeria and Switzerland. The MOU sets out the modalities for the early return and transparent management of $322.5Million stolen assets from Switzerland.

The fund has since been repatriated back to Nigeria and is now being managed by the National Social Investment Office under the supervision of the World Bank. It is aimed to support households who are living below poverty line across the country. I have also led the Nigerian team in the signing of MOU on the modalities for the return of stolen assets between Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Negotiations are underway for the return of$500 Million worth of assets located in the United States, Island of Jersey and France; The recovery to the Federal Government of Nigeria of over $73 Million as Ordered by the UK Commercial Court being part of the proceeds from the sale of OPL 245 by Malabu Oil and Gas Company to ENI/SHELL.

The Office of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation has also recovered the sums of N 59,163,029,949.46 (Fifty-Nine Billion, One Hundred and Sixty-three Million, Twenty-Nine Thousand, Nine Hundred and Forty-Nine Naira, Forty-Six Kobo) and $385,495,900.00 (Three Hundred and Eighty-Five Million, Four Hundred and Ninety-Five Thousand, Nine Hundred Dollars) locally; recovery of the total sum of $779,495,900.00 and N59,163,029,949.46 respectively by the Ministry under my watch. On recoveries generally, Ladies and Gentlemen, it may interest you to know that as at 29th May, 2015, the balance in the recovery account of the Federal Government of Nigeria stands at N19,524,490,207B. (N19.5B). The balance has geometrically increased to N279,047,318,400B (N279B) as at 22ndNovember, 2017 and counting. This represents an increase of 1,329%!

I am glad to say that the Asset Recovery and Management Unit (ARMU) of the Ministry of Justice has played a critical role and has been strategically instrumental to this administration’s aggressive recovery drive and associated successes;
generating Executive Bills and advising Mr. President on Bills presented for Assent by the National Assembly.

To ensure that Nigeria’s anti-corruption polices and laws are in compliance with international standards, the Federal Ministry of Justice inaugurated a Law Review Team to facilitate the review of existing Laws relating to Anti-Corruption, Transparency and Accountability in Governance. The Review Team proposed new Bills that addressed the limitations in existing laws. The proposed bills include:
The Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Bill 2017;
Anti-Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Bill 2017; Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit Bill 2017;
Proceeds of Crime Bill 2017;
Public Interest Disclosure and Witness Protection Bill, 2017 and
The Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill, 2017.
Owing to these efforts, the NFIU Act was passed and assented to by President Buhari in July, 2018. Our contributions in facilitating the prompt passage of Nigerian Financial Intelligence Agency Act prevented the expulsion of Nigeria from the EGMONT Group- which expulsion was embarrassingly imminent at the time.

In the same token, it is my sincere hope that the Proceeds of Crimes Bill will soon become Law to further make the anti-corruption war more effective; preparation and/or review of Court Processes and representing the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Litigation; and drafting of Regulations pursuant to relevant Statutes.
Comprehensive details of these contributions and achievements are contained in the document being circulated and in the Handing Over documents submitted to the Ministry.
In terms of Staff Welfare, the Ministry under my leadership was able to achieve harmonization of salary for Lawyers which has brought them at par with their contemporaries in other Justice Sector agencies.

I am also elated to say that during my tenure, and for the first time ever, a Lawyer in the Ministry in the person of Mr. Chiesonu Okpoko, SAN, was conferred with the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria. As I speak, this Ministry is hopefully at the verge of making another SAN!

At this juncture, it is most important for me to seize this opportunity to state that I shall remain grateful to President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR for counting me worthy of the privilege to be a member of his Team and particularly to serve the good people of Nigeria as Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

I appreciate Mr. Dayo Apata, the Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice for his unflinching support and cooperation. I am also grateful to everyone at the Federal Ministry of Justice; management staff, other Professional and Service Units’ staff (at all levels)and my Special Assistants who have all assisted me in varying degrees to achieve the so much we have been able to achieve together.

Going forward, I want to encourage everyone at the Federal Ministry of Justice not to rest on their oars but to further increase their dedication to work while carrying out their respective roles in the pursuit of the Ministry’s Constitutional mandates. You must continue to inspire public confidence in the nation’s justice system, and this is a matter of utmost and urgent public interest in aid of the administration of justice.

In concluding, I am eternally grateful to the Almighty Allah for the gift of life and for thisgreat opportunity.

I thank you all for your kind attention as I graciously take my exit.

Abubakar Malami, SAN
Attorney-General of the Federation & Minister of Justice, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
28thMay 2019
Abuja, Nigeria.