House of Reps Accuse Malami of Receiving Funds From Recovered Loot
- Nigeria's chief law officer, Abubakar Malami, SAN has been accused of a misdemeanor
- Malami's office is been investigated for allegedly dipping its hands into Nigeria's recovered loots
- A committee in Nigeria's House of Representatives is digging deep to unravel the situation
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The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami, on Tuesday, May 25 appeared before the committee investigating the status of recovered loots, Premium Times reports.
The Office of the AGF was indicted by the lawmakers for receiving funds from Nigeria's recovered loots, instead of the Consolidated Revenue Funds.
Adejoro Adeogun, the chairman of the committee, accused Malami of being complicit in the funding of the budget of his office with money from the recovered loots instead of the consolidated revenue.
Source: Twitter
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Adeogun asked:
“The law is that every revenue should be transferred to the Consolidated Revenue Account. Has the office of the attorney general ever received any fund from the recovered loots account?”
Malami, however, responded:
“The office of the attorney general has never at any time received any kobo from that account, not even the cost of collection. The office of the attorney general is not a recipient of a dime from the recovered loot.”
He was then confronted with evidence that his office solicited and received looted funds.
Adeogun stated:
“I am going to show you a statement of account from the CBN, showing payment to your office on the 20th February 2017.”
Malami’s subsequent explanation was unable to explain his position satisfactorily to the lawmakers.
However, the Accountant General of the Federation, Idris Ahmed, who was present during the back and forth, came to his aid.
Ahmed said the AGF did no wrong, explaining that under the Treasury Single Account (TSA), all accounts are the same, adding that the consolidated account and recovered loots are all subsets of the TSA.
The Nation reports that specific reference was made to the sum of $23 million withdrawn by the office of the AGF which is yet to be refunded.
Adeogun also wondered if money can be taken from the coffers of the government without appropriation.
Meanwhile, the federal government has confirmed that the British government has formally paid the £4,214,017.66 looted funds recovered from family members and associates of former Delta state governor, James Ibori, into its designated account.
Malami confirmed the development on Tuesday, May 18 in a statement sent to journalists.
In a related development, the funds have been returned to authorities in Delta state by the federal government.
This was disclosed by the Accountant General of the Federation, Idris Ahmed, in a chat with federal lawmakers.
Source: Legit.ng
