$418M, AGF Malami And Governors Disagree Over Paris Club Refund

 

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, Thursday, said the state governors operating under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) have no justification to protest against deductions from the Paris Club refund paid to the consultants they hired.

He said this while featuring at the Ministerial Media Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The minister told the governors that they created the liability whose payment they had also indemnified.

Malami, while reacting to the furore over the recent deductions made from the refund, said when the NGF made a request for the refund, one of the components was the settlement of the consultants who were engaged by the forum.

He recounted that the governors initially made part payment to the consultants when the Paris Club refund was paid to the states.

The minister said the governors stopped payment when they sought an out of court settlement.

Malami said this led to request to the President to make the payment to the consultants, a request he added, was then passed on to the Office of the AGF for legal opinion.

He said it was discovered that there was no element of fraud involved after being subjected to necessary checks, adding that the indemnity of the governors was also sought and received.