The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has finally decided to appear before the House of Representatives committee investigating the alleged loss of 2.4 billion dollars from the illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil.
OsunDaily News reported on Wednesday that members of the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating the alleged loss of 2.4 billion dollars from the illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude were left angry after federal government officials failed to honour their invitation.
It was gathered that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed; and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele were all summoned to appear before the committee but failed to honour the invitation.
The committee chairman, Mark Gbillah who expressed disappointment with the development on Wednesday pointed out that the government officials similarly failed to appear the week before.
The committee then vowed to take more stringent actions if the government officials, who are expected to appear before the committee to explain the inflows from recoveries from whistleblowers failed to honour the next invitation extended to them.
However, after the house committees blew hot about taking more stringent, measures, the AGF finally decide to honour the invitation.
It was learnt that the Chairman of the Committee, Mark Gbillah (LP, Benue), on Thursday, disclosed that Malami will appear before the committee on 27 April, after the public holiday.
The AGF, who had ignored previous invitations, in a letter to the committee said he will cooperate with the panel and provide needed information on the ongoing investigation.
Gbillah stated that “Today we are in receipt of a letter from the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice who is averring his determination to respect the doctrine of separation of powers and to support our extant laws. And he has indicated the fact that they are trying to put together the comprehensive response that we have raised.
“While we appreciate the Attorney General’s response, we would like to indicate that it came a lot later than we expected and it came without the response that we referred to.
“So, we will appreciate it if the Attorney General and Honourable Minister provide this response and also appear before the Committee next Thursday. So, let’s give him the window to appear before the committee.”
Meanwhile, Gbillah has said the committee would give the finance minister the benefit of doubt over her continuous refusal to acknowledge the committee’s summon.
The committee chairman submitted that “Like I already said, we are giving her (Mrs Ahmed) the benefits of the doubt. We are not unmindful of the other powers we have and we are not afraid to exert them and we will do so if the leeway we have provided is still neglected and not recognized by the honourable Minister of Finance.”
