Malami: EFCC invited me over Abacha loot

Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN, says he was invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) because of Abacha loot.

Malami stated this in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Mohammed Bello Doka.

He was invited by the EFCC on November 28, as confirmed by him in a Facebook post, saying as “a law-abiding citizen he would honour the invitation.”

According Malami, the EFCC informed him that its inquiry relates alleged abuse of office, and Money laundering.

He said that when the Buhari administration initiated the process in 2016, there was no lodgement of any such funds into the Federation Account, saying “there was no completed recovery in existence, and nothing whatsoever to duplicate.”

He said, “The EFCC informed me that its inquiry relates to an alleged duplication in the recovery of the $310 million Abacha loot, which by accrual of interest rose to about $322.5 million as at the time I eventually succeeded in recovering the funds for the federal Government and, flowing from that assumption, two allegations were majorly raised, namely; abuse of office, and Money laundering.”

He, however, described the allegations as baseless, illogical and wholly devoid of substance.

He stated, “The EFCC’s position, as conveyed to me, is that upon my assumption of office as Attorney-General of the Federation in 2015, the recovery of the said funds had allegedly already been completed by a Swiss lawyer, Mr. Enrico Monfrini.

“On that basis, it is alleged that I merely duplicated an already concluded recovery process in order to introduce other lawyers who would, in turn, give me kickbacks.”

He added that the allegation would collapse, when subjected to facts and elementary logic, saying the facts, which were documented, were referred to in his response to the interrogatories raised by the commission.

He stated, “It is trite to state from the onset that Recovery of illicit funds can legally be said to have been completed upon the actual lodgement of recovered funds into the Federation Account.

“As at 2016, when the Buhari administration initiated the process relating to the said $310 million (later $322.5 million with interest), there was no lodgement of any such funds into the Federation Account. There was therefore no completed recovery in existence, and nothing whatsoever to duplicate.

Malami added that any claim or investigation suggesting abuse of office or money laundering in relation to the $322.5million is not rooted in any reasonable ground for suspicion.

“The constitutional discretion of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation in matters of recovery of illicit funds is exercised strictly in the public interest and in the interest of justice. In the circumstances of this case, that discretion was exercised transparently and responsibly, saving Nigeria between 15 percent and 35 percent of the recovered assets and avoiding unlawful or unaccounted expenditures.

“For avoidance of doubt, there were distinct tranches of Abacha loot recovered by Malami as Attorney General of the federation, namely; the $322.5 million repatriated from Switzerland in 2017–2018 was deployed through the National Social Investment Programme, specifically Conditional Cash Transfers to the poorest Nigerians, which deployment was monitored by the world bank and civil society organizations out of commitment of the Buhari’s Government to entrench transparency and accountability.”

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