$62bn Oil Debt: Malami Says FG Rigorously Pursuing Recovery

The Office of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice says it is making efforts to reclaim $62 billion oil debt from multinational companies.

Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations to the OAGF and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

The OAGF clarified  that contrary to reports in some media platforms, it was yet to recover those debts.

 Malami, however, stressed that, “in the last one year, the Office has identified and vigorously pursued the recovery of same from the International Oil Companies.”

“The clarification became necessary in view of the need to clear the misinformation caused by some reports where the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN was misquoted to have said that such amount were recovered,” the statement added.

During  a one-day workshop for judiciary correspondents on Tuesday in Abuja, Malami maintained that the recovery of the debt was crucial and  would be channeled towards the betterment of the country.

He added that pursuing such recovery was a good one as it would help government to “have more funds for the execution

of high-impact people-oriented projects in the country.”

Furthermore, the OAGF assured that the justice ministry would strengthen rule of law as well as rid corruption from the country, in line with the objective of  the Buhari administration.

“The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice reiterated commitment to justice sector reform, fight against corruption, strict adherence to the rule of law and entrenchment of democratic principles in the best interest of the Nigerian public,” the statement partly read.