***As Justice Minister Rolls Out Four-year Action Plans

By CLEMENT NWOJI, ABUJA

The Federal Government has vowed to prosecute individuals either private or government officials and corporate entities involved in the alleged fraudulent transaction leading to award of $9 billion against Nigeria by a British Court.

A British Court had ruled on 16 August, 2019 that Process and Industrial Development Limited (P&ID) had the right to seize $9 billion in Nigerian assets.

The ruling rose from a dispute on a 20 year Gas Supply Processing Agreement (GSPA) purportedly entered with P&ID by the last administration in 2010 which contract P&ID never performed.

But the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, in a formal reaction on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria on Thursday, said that Government would not fold “arms and allow this injustice to go unpunished”.

Malami spoke while presenting his action plans for the next four years on assumption of office on Thursday after his reappointment as the Justice minister by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said: Sadly, in spite of the spirited and concerted efforts of the current administration to combat corrupt practices and rent seeking in all its forms, Nigerians woke up on Friday 16th August, 2019 to the rudest consequences of the underhand dealings of the past administration that has resulted in the award of $9 billion against the Federal Republic of Nigeria by a British Court which ruled that Process and Industrial Development Limited (P&ID) had the right to seize $9 billion in Nigerian assets.”

He recalled the dispute that led to the arbitration between FGN and P&ID, saying that “The federal government strongly views with serious concerns the underhand manners by which the negotiation, signing and formation of the contract was carried out by some vested interests in the past administration in connivance with their local and international conspirators all in a bid to inflict grave economic adversity on the federal republic of Nigeria and the good people of Nigeria.

“As a government that has the mandate of the people, and their interests at heart, we shall not fold our arms and allow this injustice to go unpunished as all efforts, actions and steps shall be taken to bring to book all private individuals, corporate entities and government officials – home or abroad past or present, that played direct and indirect roles in the conception, negotiation, signing, formation as well as prosecution of the purported agreement.”

The Attorney General expressed his determination to rejig the ministry of justice to brace up and approach the challenges that had drawn the nation backwards, through “comprehensive evidence-based judicial reforms capable of ridding the country of its fundamental vices of economic sabotage, insecurity, separatism and systemic corruption by promoting constitutional democracy, rule of law, social justice, economic prosperity and political rights of all Nigerians”.

He traced the seeming failure of the nation’s system to structural defects in Nigeria’s Constitution and laws, non-adherence to laws, institutional failure of enforcements and dysfunctionality of nation’s judicial system which only judicial reforms can reverse if the nation must exist as a nation.

Malami indicated that his plans include holistic and effective implementation of the national anti-corruption strategy framework, to beam searchlight on the financial institutions and non-designated financial institutions in order to make them pay dearly for the dastardly role they have played and are still playing in encouraging and deepening corruption in Nigeria, development and promotion of appropriate executive bills capable of achieving the objective of combating systemic and grand corruption, among other things he intend to achieve within the next four years.