The Federal Government, yesterday, said it has begun enhanced strategies geared towards setting aside the entire P&ID liability and possible nullification of the contract.
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) stated this while giving an update on the pending issue.
Malami’s position was contained in a statement issued yesterday by his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, in Abuja.
According to the minister, under the new strategy, “no lawyers were replaced, but more lawyers with specialized skills are locally and internationally engaged to support the existing capacity and initiate fresh suits with a view to achieving the desired result.”
Explaining what he meant by the desired results, the AGF said “this time around, it is not limited to a challenge on enforcement proceedings, but extended to setting aside the entire liability and probably the nullification of the contract on the basis of which the award was hinged.”
While repudiating the allegation on replacement of the Nigerian legal team on P&ID issue, Malami said: “Our lawyers originally engaged have proven to be versatile, competent and effective and constitute our winning team. They have such capacity which we do not doubt in their ability to deliver.
“There was no change of counsel, but enhanced strategy commonly agreed upon which was targeted at getting overall success.”
Malami had described the so-called P&ID contract as a well-organized scam “consciously, deliberately and intentionally orchestrated by some dubious and well-placed Nigerian government officials at the time with some shrewd foreign collaborators to defraud Nigeria and inflict heavy economic and financial loss on Nigeria and its people.”
He, however, vowed that the Nigerian government will not sell out the interest of the country and the Nigerian people in order to satisfy some elements who are consciously out to extort the Nigerian people for their selfish aggrandizement.
“We will not allow fraudulent local and foreign collaborators to rip off the resources of Nigeria for no just cause, but merely to be seen as being nice or investor-friendly,” he stated.