UPDATED:Over $2.4bn illegal oil sale,Reps grill Malami demand records of $1bn recoveries

UPDATED: Reps grill Malami over $2.4bn illegal oil sale, demand records of $1bn recoveries

• …Justice ministry refers lawmakers to finance minister, accountant-general, EFCC

The House of Representatives, on Thursday, grilled the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), for the second time over the alleged illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil in China valued at over $2.4bn.

Malami, in company of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice/Solicitor-General of the Federation, Beatrice Jedy-Agba, appeared before the House’ Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate Alleged Loss of Over $2.4 Billion in Revenue from Illegal Sale of 48 Million Barrels of Crude Oil Export in 2015 Including All Crude Oil Exports and Sales by Nigeria from 2014 Till Date.

Despite the documents presented to the committee based on an earlier request by the panel, the lawmakers asked for more documents.

While Malami restated his earlier position about the allegation and the probe, he also asked the lawmakers to avail him of documents and facts at their disposal to assist him in aiding the investigation.

Read more

Chairman of the committee, Mark Gbillah, earlier noted that the lawmakers were in possession of communication from the outgoing President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) “regarding this particular issue, which we will not say openly but will take up with you in private because we also understand certain things are classified and confidential.

Gbillah added, “We are not just embarking on something that is a wild goose chase. I want to put that on the record.”

The chairman, while faulting an earlier claim by Malami at the last meeting that there was no formal committee set up by the President to investigate the matter, insisted that “an actual committee was set up, maybe you (the minister) are privy to it or not.”

He added that a former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources also made a formal communication to the National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (retd.), “over this issue and we are in possession of that document.”

Gbillah stressed, “So, I am quite surprised that your esteemed office did not have all this information. It might not be within your purview of knowledge, but we are surprised that it is not.”

Click here to continue reading:

UPDATED: Reps grill Malami over $2.4bn illegal oil sale, demand records of $1bn recoveries