18 MILLION DOLLARS JUDGMENT

THE Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Aondoakaa, caused more than a stir when he reportedly told some members of the House of Representives that Nigeria paid a staggering $6 million judgment debt to a United States-based firm. Newspaper reports claimed the minister called the debt “phantom”, because he could not get the details and/or a copy of the judgment. But in a swift reaction, Chief Aondoakaa denied such a claim, saying he only requested for a copy of the judgment to apprise President Umaru Yar’Adua of the necessisty to pay the balance on the debt.

THE revelation about the country’s indebtedness to a US oil company, Marsh Oil, to the tune of $18 million, which was awarded to the company by a US court, was made when Chief Aondoakaa was fielding questions from the House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary.

THE committee had summoned the justice minister and the Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola, to explain why judgment debts against the Federal Government were not included in the 2008 Budget. Chief Aondoakaa revealed that the total judgment debts accumulated from 1998 were eight billion naira, $12 million and two million pounds. He blamed the ministries and government departments for not forwarding details of these judgment debts to his office, which he claimed accounted for their non-inclusion in the 2008 Budget.

THE minister disclosed that a US court had ruled against Nigeria and allegedly awarded 18 million dollars in cost to Marsh Oil, out of which $6 million dollars was paid by the last administration. He said the balance of $12 million was yet to be settled.

CHIEF Aondoakaa’s disclosure that the nation had a staggering judgment debt of two million pounds and $12 million certainly should be a cause for worry. These are sizeable amounts that will go a long way towards improving the lives of the citizenry. Therefore, if the government which is representing this citizenry is paying such hefty debts to foreign companies, the people deserve to know the details of the court cases that led to the debts. What offence did the country or the government commit against these foreign firms? What are the facts of the cases that gave rise to the judgment debts? Who were the parties involved in the trial? Who represented Nigeria in these cases? Was there any opportunity for appeal in a superior court then and even now? Was the part payment of $6 million verified before it was made? And if it was verified, where are the supporting documents, including a copy of the court’s judgment?

THIS, indeed, has been a season of stunning and embarrassing revelations. Before now, it was the embarrassing stories of brazen corruption involving officials of government and Wilbros Nigeria Ltd. The American company, whose interest in Nigeria was bought recently by another company, had named some Nigerian officials in a bribe-for-contract scandal.

ALSO some officials of Siemens, a German telecommunications company, while under investigation in Germany over inappropriate payments that reflected in their books, named some high profile Nigerian officials in another mind-boggling bribery scandal. Panalpina, another US company, was recently fined 26 million dollars by a US court for paying about two million dollars bribe to some officials of  Nigeria Customs Service.

BACK home, the House of Representatives, some few days ago, discovered that about N300 billion unspent capital expenditure budgeted for the  2007 fiscal year, which should have been spent to improve the nation’s decrepit infrastructure, was resting in private interest yielding accounts. The House also discovered that N56 billion and N39 billion were spent by the Bureau of Public Enterprises as transaction costs and on public relations in 2006 and 2007 respectively. It was also revealed that the BPE did not remit all the proceeds of the sales it made to the treasury.

THE rather sad conclusion that can be drawn from all these is that, in spite of the hue and cry about anti-corruption campaigns, the Nigeria public service still remains a cesspit of corruption and heart-rending fiscal irresponsibility. These revelations are probably a tip of the iceberg in relation to the rot that actually exists in the public service. Curiously, for scandals of this magnitude to have broken out under a government that is understandably sympathetic to the immediate past administration suggests that much more dirty deals and documents might have been concealed and /or destroyed.

WE recommend that a thorough investigation be launched into the matter. If the $6 million judgment debt was actually made inappropriately, then whoever was involved in the payment should be named, shamed and be made to face the law. The payment of the alleged balance of $12 million should be stopped and the $6 million already paid recovered.

WE commend the justice minister for his disclosure. He may have saved the nation a lot in terms of money and national pride, if it is eventually discovered that the cases were not handled properly or that there is likelihood of these judgments being reversed. We urge him and the government he represents to muster the required political will to follow through and get to the root of this matter.

OKOGWU ON NATIONAL AFFAIRS

MULTI-BILLIONAIRE Kaduna-based businessman, Chief Sonny Okogwu, is the earthy, eld
erly comedian of the time. In an interview with the Sunday Tribune, recently, he showed a class that would put Ali Baba, Basket Mouth, Latin or even Baba Suwe in the shade forever.

WHEN he was asked what he thought of both Lucky Igbinedion and James Onanefe Ibori, both former governors of Edo and Delta states respectively, and their travails, Chief Okogwu opined that both of them should be allowed to go scot free, no matter the extent of their alleged brazen aggression against the public till.

CHIEF Okogwu’s logic is quite simple. If both Igbinedion and Ibori were sworn on oath into office using the Bible, why should they now be held accountable by the formal, secular instrument of the law? He could not simply understand why such men should be handled by the crudity of legal shackles. They should simply be allowed to go home to be handled by Him-God-before whom they were sworn in.

AS for Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and his controversial study leave for one year at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, near Jos, Chief Okogwu was actually elated at the prospect of the young anti-corruption czar being sent to school. According to him, he had always thought that Mallam Ribadu needed a refresher course in English language, as his mastery of the language was probably too poor and pedestrian for the position he occupied. So he needed to be brushed up.

DO they teach English language at NIPSS, Kuru? Chief Okogwu would know, since it is not unlikely that the chief executive of Black Gold could have been at NIPSS either as a student or a resource person judging from his obvious closeness to power.

IF the intention of Chief Okogwu was to make Nigerians laugh, he certainly succeeded, as his rather comic views broke down the hard wall on the faces of Nigerians.