Paris Club refund: We did nothing wrong- Govs

The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), the umbrella body for the thirty-six Governors of the Federation, on Monday, maintained its earlier position that it has done nothing illegal as far as the disbursement of the Paris Club Refund to states and the consultants are concerned.

The NGF disclosed that it has all necessary approvals to act in the manner it did, stressing that the misinformation in the media about the disbursement and insinuations being made concerning some Governors that are being mentioned is outright mischief.

The Forum, in a statement by its Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Abulrazque Barkindo, in Abuja, stated that the approval for the release of the second tranche of the Paris Club refund by President Muhammadu Buhari is indicative of his confidence in the NGF for the manner it handled the disbursement of the first tranche of the fund.

The NGF maintained that it played an altruistic and patriotic role in ensuring that it aided, as directed, approved and authorised by the Presidency, Federal Ministry of Finance, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Debt Management Office (DMO) and all other necessary agencies of government, the disbursement of the funds to entities and individuals lawfully entitled to it.

It insisted that all approvals, authorisation, terms of engagements and disbursement were properly documented and are verifiable by anyone, including the general public.

The NGF’s statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to publications in the media which are believed to have emanated from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) about a purported report the anti-graft agency submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari, on March 10, 2016.

“The report is said to have indicted the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and imputed illegal dealings in the disbursement of the Paris Club refund payment to states of the federation as handled by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

“While the NGF will not want to repeatedly join issues with the EFCC on the disbursement of the first tranche of the Paris Club refund, particularly after its officials have been interrogated by the anti-corruption agency and we provided all necessary and required details and documents regarding disbursement to states, including harmonising the number of consultants and payment made to them, we are constrained to once again state the following for the benefit of members of the public:

“It is true that Melrose General Services Limited was one of the consultants that was duly engaged and documented to facilitate the disbursement of the Paris Club Refund. The consultant was also paid an amount commensurate to the services it provided, among other numerous consultants that were involved in the process.

“It is not in the NGF’s purview to determine how Melrose or other consultants disburse or utilise the consultancy fee paid to them. The NGF should therefore not be dragged into how its suppliers, lawyers, contractors and consultants spend their legitimate incomes and revenues.

“It may interest the public to know that the NGF is still being inundated with claims from many other consultants from all over the country who had earlier been engaged and promised commission by the respective states.

“The NGF maintains its earlier position that it has done nothing illegal as far as the disbursement of the Paris Club Refund to states and the consultants are concerned.

“The Forum has all necessary approvals to act in the manner it did. Therefore, the misinformation in the media about the disbursement and insinuations being made concerning some Governors that are being mentioned is outright mischief.

“We will like to state that the approval for the release of the second tranche of the Paris Club refund by President Muhammadu Buhari is indicative of his confidence in the NGF for the manner it handled the disbursement of the first tranche of the fund.

“The NGF would like to once again place it on record that it played an altruistic and patriotic role in ensuring that it aided, as directed, approved and authorised by the Presidency, Federal Ministry of Finance, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Debt Management Office (DMO) and all other necessary agencies of government, the disbursement of the funds to entities and individuals lawfully entitled to it.

“All approvals, authorisation, terms of engagements and disbursement were properly documented and are verifiable by anyone, including the general public”.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government, 36 state governors and a consultant, Hon. Ned Munir Nwoko, have informed a Federal High Court in Abuja that they are already discussing an out-of -court settlement in a suit filed by Nwoko over the payment of his consultancy/legal fees on the controversial N522.74 billion London/Paris Club Refund.

The Daily Times had exclusively reported on March 8, 2017 that Nwoko had filed the matter before Justice Gabriel Kolawole, challenging the propriety of payment of his N53.68 billion fees to certain consultants who did not participate in activities leading to the refund of the said N522.74 billion.

When the matter came up for hearing before the court, Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama (SAN), who led the plaintiff’s lawyer, Mr. K C Njemanze (SAN), told Justice Kolawole that the parties had been meeting with a view to settling the case outside the court.

Gadzama said: “We are already meeting to get this case resolved amicably. There is light at the end of tunnel. As counsel, we have a duty to promote the process of reconciliation. If we are unable to reconcile, we will return to this court for a judicial resolution.

“In the light of this, I will be asking for an adjournment to see that we are able to accomplish the settlement. I seek for a short adjournment to enable us to do so.”

The Director General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Mr. Asishana Bayo Okauru was present in court while the lawyer to the NGF, Mr. O. K Ukoha, confirmed the settlement option.

According to Ukoha, settlement and peace remain better option in resolving contentious issue, saying that his client is disposed to amicable resolution of the matter.

In his ruling on the case, Justice Kolawole held that since the parties were unanimous in settling the suit amicably, he would adjourn for report of settlement.

The judge said: “By the provision of Section 17 of the Federal High Court, Cap F12 LFN 2014, this court has statutory duty to promote, initiate and facilitate amicable settlement of all disputes referred to it for adjudication.

“It is my hope that counsel as ministers in the temple of justice, will readily lend their skills and knowledge to accomplish the goals for an amicable settlement.”

The judge later adjourned the case till April 10 for the report of the settlement.

Nwoko had in his Writ of Summons in suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/148/2017, demanded the payment of $175.98million (at the forex rate of N305 to $1 which is N53.68billion) as his consultancy/legal fees from the said N522.74 refund.

According to the plaintiff, the said $175.98million represents his consultancy/legal fees from the refund to 15 states – Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Kogi, Adamawa, Taraba, Niger, Ondo, Oyo, Edo, Delta and Zamafara.

The plaintiff had also named the Incorporated Trustees of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the Attorney- General of the Federation, the Minister of Finance, the Accountant- General of the Federation, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Access Bank Plc and GTBank Plc as co-defendants to the suit.

Nwoko is asking the court to take a judicial notice of the fact that he is entitled to the fees on the grounds that the various state governments engaged him to inquire, verify, reconcile and recover certain amounts of money wrongly or illegally deducted from their statutory allocations as first line charge for payment of external debts between 1995 and 2005 by the Federal Government.

He also exhibited the letters of authority from the different states to back his claims.

He added that the scope of his work included the establishment of exact deductions made from the states’ statutory allocations by the Federal Government in the settlement of foreign debts and the differences if any on the reflected balances/non remittances.

Nwoko also claims that he engaged many professionals and qualified experts in various countries of the world including lawyers, chartered and forensic accountants in order to diligently carry out the task.

The plaintiff further claimed that the state governments and himself agreed that he is entitled to certain percentages of the monies found to be due for refunds to the states.

For example, he claims that he is entitled to 20 per cent from the refunds accruing to Bayelsa, Edo, Imo and Oyo; 10 per cent from Abia, Adamawa, Kogi, Niger, and Taraba; 15 per cent from Anambra , Ebonyi and Enugu while he is to receive 12 per cent from refund to Ondo.

He added that his activities prompted President Muhammadu Buhari to approve the payment of N522.74 billion to the state governments in 2016 as the amount represents the 25 per cent over deductions on Paris and London Club loans on the accounts of states and local governments between 1995 and 2005.