Crime

Reps threaten arrest of AGF, finance minister

Published

1 year ago

April 19, 2023

Stella Charles Akupue

Reps threaten arrest of AGF, finance minister

Whistleblower recoveries

The House of Representatives has threatened to issue a warrant of arrest on , the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice and Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance if they fail to appear for its ongoing probe on the sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil amounting to over $2.4 billion.

The House of Representatives Adhoc Committee investigating the sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil amounting to over $2.4 billion and crude oil export to global destinations from 2014 to date has demanded the appearance of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami before it.

According to the committee chairman, Mr Mark Gbilla, this is to give evidence on allegations that the Minister approved the payment of $200 million to two private firms as consultancy services fees on whistleblowers’ recoveries.

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The committee is also demanding the appearance of the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed Shamsuna, to explain her role in the said approvals and payment without providing details of actual recoveries from whistleblowers.

The committee chairman gave the ruling at the resumed hearing of the investigation, saying that both ministers have been uncooperative with the panel despite several letters of invitation.

Reps threaten arrest of AGF, finance minister.

According to Mr Gbilla, the panel is interested in knowing where the Attorney General derives his powers to approve payment of funds meant for the federation without recourse to the legislature through a formal request by the executive.

“We’ve looked at the functions of the Attorney General’s office, and we’ve not seen any statutory powers provided for the Attorney General by the constitution to determine how Nigeria’s money should be spent.

“We need the Honourable Minister of Finance and the Attorney General of the Federation to appear before this House to provide clarity on the inflows that have come in from whistleblowers’ recoveries and about these monies that were recovered, and the CBN is required to provide information that has been provided by these whistleblowers about substantial amounts of funds that were paid supposedly and allegedly for consultancy services when there’s no record of any agreement entered into by those companies regarding any services.

The committee chairman added that the failure of the two Ministers to honour the committee’s invitations would force the committee to invoke the instrument of the summons and all other necessary powers the National Assembly can exercise.

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