Once again, the Federal Government has strongly defended President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent request for the approval of $1billion from the National Assembly.While delivering a paper titled “The Legal Profession in Nigeria” at the 2014 NBA International Conference ,Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN) said inter –alia ,that the fund was meant to fully equip Nigeria’s armed forces.
According to him, “The request for the sum of $1billion recently made to the National Assembly is to enable government to fully equip our Armed Forces for the war against terrorism and insurgency in compliance with the resolutions of the National Assembly while approving a further extension of the Proclamation of the State of Emergency in three North-Eastern states of the country.
Opposition politicians have raised eyebrows about the request for this huge sum of money coming so close to the 2015 general elections.
But Adoke said further, “There is the need for Nigerians to appreciate that terrorism is a global phenomenon requiring the concerted efforts of all nations of the world. Government has accordingly sought the assistance of other countries, as well as our development partners, to effectively confront this challenge.
“Equally important is the need to forge a united front to combat the common enemy. Nigerians must remain united in the face of the threat of terrorism.
“Terrorists would rather have us divided along sectional, religious and political lines as the division would not only help their cause, but also, further diminish our efforts to collectively and effectively wage war against them,the AGF said .
Addressing the controversial issue of Abacha loot,Adoke said “The government has also been very active in the tracing and recovery of stolen assets around the world. The settlement the Federal Government recently reached with the Abacha family, which led to the significant recovery of assets in foreign jurisdictions is a fitting testimony to the strenuous efforts being made to ensure the sufficient disgorgement of the proceeds of crime to serve as deterrence.
“I am aware of the negative commentaries that the settlement generated from those who were ill-informed about the details of the se settlement and the underlying imperatives in the national interest.
“I however wish to reassure the Bar that every aspect of the settlement was transparently conducted and the outcome was in the national interest.
“The settlement has received commendation across the globe and is being used as model for Case Studies on stolen assets recovery.
“Let me use this opportunity to call on our colleagues with the penchant for making unguarded and baseless statements in the media to always seek information from appropriate quarters before commenting on issues.
The AGF also said a lot of progress has been made in the implementation of Freedom of Information Act “The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and indeed all-public offices are open to the public for purposes of obtaining information on government business.
“The Freedom of Information Act, 2011 remains a potent tool in the hands of those seeking information from public institutions and members of the Bar should take advantage of it.
“We must discourage the pervading culture of baseless criticism for self-glorification and cheap popularity.
“We have also made a lot of progress in the implementation of Freedom of Information Act, 2011(FOIA). The initial misgivings that pervaded the public service and the difficulty in coming to terms with the new ethos of open government and transparency which the Act encouraged were overcome by my issuance of a Compliance Advisory to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on 29th January 2012 pursuant to the powers vested in me by Section 29 of the FOIA, 2011.
“This was immediately followed by the issuance on 15th March 2012 of comprehensive “Guidelines on the Implementation o the Freedom of Information Act, 2011. The guidelines were further revised in 2013 to further elucidate on the provisions of the FOIA.
“My office also makes returns to the National Assembly on the 1st of April each year on the extent of compliance by the MDAs with the FOIA during the period under review.
The minister also said “The legislations which are being processed as bills before the National Assembly include: A Bill to domesticate the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court(ICC) in order to make the ICC regime applicable in Nigeria; the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Centre Bill to grant autonomy to the NFIU in line with international best practice and recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force(FATF); the Proceeds of Crimes Bill to provide for the confiscation and forfeiture of proceeds of crime and the management of such assets.
“We have equally taken steps to improve on Nigeria’s ability to provide international cooperation consistent with our obligations under the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) as well as a host of other regional and bilateral treaty obligations. To fast track the process, the Central Authority for Nigeria in respect of matters of international cooperation.
“This has enabled us to expeditiously treat and make requests for extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. To further strengthen the process, the Extradition Bill 2013 and the Mutual Legal Assistance Bill 2013 have been proposed and pending consideration by the National Assembly.
