Malami Denies Wrongdoing In Settling Judgment Debts

The Attorney-General Of The Federation and Minister Of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has denied any wrongdoing in settling multi-billion naira judgment debts on behalf of the country.

Malami, in a press release on Tuesday, was reacting to media reports which among other claims, alleged that he used his position to “ignore fraud warnings while pushing for payment of suspicious N159 billion debts.”

But to clear the air, Malami held that the said reports were frivolous, adding that it refused to capture the anti-corruption drive of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration which his office was spearheading.

The AGF noted that the Justice Ministry, in a bid not to inflict undue liability on the country, engaged in due diligence in resolving issues bordering on the judgement debts.

“The office of the OHAGF has arising from a clear historical antecedent of the role it has played in the case of P&ID, remained steadfast in the sustenance of the public interest which in effect is saving the Federal Government from frivolous financial liabilities.

“That extra-ordinary due diligence was carried out by the OHAGF on the payment of Supreme Court Judgment in contention with particular regards to the efforts put in place to unravel the veracity of the claim and whether in fact any fraudulent undertone could be discovered.

“The reports and due diligence of the Law Enforcement and Security agencies provided on this matter speaks for itself as to the reasonability or otherwise of the mischievous publication of Premium Times and Sahara Reporters but the fact remains inevitably glaring that their report is baseless and mischievous,” he said.

“The crux and truth of the matter is that Malami, Hon Minister of finance, Gambari and indeed the Government of President Muhammadu Buhari have been applying extra-ordinary due diligence to avoid whatever was suspected to be suspicious liability whose antecedents were rooted in past administration in respect of which Premium Times and Sahara Reporters were allegedly complicit in failing to question the issues or draw the attention of the general public to the matter at that time,” he added.