Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation, has
agreed to appear before a house of representatives ad-hoc committee
investigating the alleged illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil in
2015.
Mark Gbillah, chairman of the committee, announced on
Thursday that Malami will face the lawmakers on April 27.
Recall that the committee summoned Malami and Zainab Ahmed,
minister of finance, but they ignored the invitation.
Last week, Ghillah said the committee obtained reports that
Malami received funds from outside the country through the whistleblower policy
but did not remit it to the federation account.
The committee chairman also said the minister of finance
approved payments to whistleblowers which were not in accordance with the
policy.
On Wednesday, the committee displayed documents allegedly
involving the payment of $200 million to two companies for “consultancy
service”.
Gbillah said the attorney-general wrote to the committee
that he will appear before the lawmakers with a “comprehensive response”.
He said: “Today we are in receipt of a letter from the
attorney-general of the federation and the minister of justice who is averring
his determination to respect the doctrine of separation of powers and to
support our extant laws. He has indicated the fact that they are trying to put
together the comprehensive response that we have raised.
“While we appreciate the attorney-general’s response we
would like to indicate that it came a lot later than we expected and it came
without the response that we referred to.
“So, we will appreciate it if the attorney-general and
honourable minister provides these responses and also appear before the
committee next Thursday. So, let’s give him the window to appear before the
committee.”
‘MINISTER OF FINANCE
EVASIVE’
Ghillah said the finance minister has not shown regard to
the committee by responding to the query sent to her office.
He said the committee will issue a warrant of arrest if the
minister fails to appear before the lawmakers.
“Unfortunately, the honourable minister of finance has still
been evasive. The committee has not received any submission or response from
the honourable minister of finance,” he said.
“The accountant-general sent a response and has not
responded to our follow-up because we asked further questions about the
information he provided us.
“But we want to call
on the honourable minister of finance, like the attorney-general show regard
and respect for the separation of powers as enshrined in our constitution and
respond promptly to the request of the committee so that we can get to the
bottom of our investigation.
“Like I already said, we are giving her the benefit of the
doubt. We are not unmindful of the other powers we have and we are not afraid
to exert them and we will do so if the leeway we have provided is still
neglected and not recognised by the honourable minister of finance.”
THE PROBE
In December 2022, the house of representatives set up an
ad-hoc committee to investigate a whistleblower’s claims that 48 million
barrels of Bonny Light crude were illegally sold in China in 2015.
The committee was also mandated to investigate all crude oil
exports and sales in Nigeria from 2014 till date — as well as all proceeds
recovered through the whistleblower policy of the federal government.
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