Tobi Adebayo
Ekiti State Governor and Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Kayode Fayemi has knocked the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami over his statement on the governors’ opposition to the deduction of the Paris Club Refund from accounts of the 36 states.
Malami, during an interview with Arise News, described the NGF as dishonest for objecting to the payment of the sum of $418m to consultants for services rendered in their role in the Paris and London clubs refunds.
He explained that in 2013, there was an engagement by the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) against the FG for the purpose of recovering the funds.
“These consultants delivered and they have not been paid for the services rendered. ALGON agreed and submitted a consent statement of the court of law which gave rise to the liability.
“In 2019, the consultants approached the FG for their fees and the FG reached an agreement with the NGF who agreed to pay them. The NGF agreed that payments should be deducted from their Paris club payment at the instance of the govs.
“Due to the amount being paid which is huge, the FG became suspicious which led to the investigations by the EFCC and the DSS over the payment.
“In 2017, the NGF and ALGON admitted the agreement and the liability which facilitated the payments. The implication of the FG being named as a party in the suit means the consequences were laid at the feet of the FG in an agreement by the governors; the NGF has been making periodic payments due to this.
“The NGF sent a letter of indemnity that they are liable for the payments in collaboration with ALGON. It is amazing that the Governors after agreeing with these claims are now objecting to these payments. This was after consenting to the judgement before the current administration came in place. You can’t deny a liability agreed to a decade ago; this is dishonesty,” Malami said.
Reacting to the AGF’s statement, Fayemi, during an interview with Arise News monitored by ThisNigeria, accused Malami of backing the consultants to “fleece Nigerians of their money.”
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“It befuddles the mind that the AGF is pushing vehemently on behalf of people whose primary intent is to fleece the Nigerian people of their money. Even the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that reviewed the issue accused the Federal Ministry of Justice of lack of diligent prosecution.
“The NGF decided to call for a forensic audit because some consultants who had been paid from the initial full and final settlement of $350m approved by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2017 are demanding to be paid again, which is suspicious. One of the contractors even claimed that he constructed boreholes across all the Local Government Areas in the country and it has been proven that no such project was executed.
“I recall that Malami was behind the settlement of the 2017 $350m payment. The past NGF let that slide because they wanted access to their accounts. All we want is a thorough review of the matter. Why is he in a hurry if we are demanding to know where the $419m settlement popped up from? The cases are currently sitting in the Supreme Court.
“The NGF insist that the claims by the consultants are fraudulent and should be subjected to thorough review. The AGF should allow this matter to be settled in the Supreme Court instead of taking it to the court of public opinion,” Fayemi said.
