Process and Industrial Development, (P&ID) has accused
Nigeria’s Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami of lack of regards for the rule of
law.
In a statement on Friday, the company which
has been in a running battle with the Nigerian government, said the AGF will,
no doubt, pay occasional lip service to the concept, but his recent actions
speak far louder than any words.
It said, “Over the past 6 weeks, AGF Malami has shamelessly
misrepresented the true motives behind the fishing expedition it has asked the
U.S. courts to endorse, through an application under a U.S. statute, 28 U.S.C.
§ 1782 (or ‘Section 1782’).
“In these applications, Nigeria’s chief law enforcement
officer has suspiciously sidestepped the ordinary procedure for collecting
criminal evidence in the United States – and, in doing so, ignored his
obligation of candor before the U.S. court.
“This should not be surprising. P&ID has known that
Nigeria would embark on a desperate fishing expedition to find anything it
could to unduly influence the court of public opinion and muddy the waters
before the English Commercial Court. The English Commercial Court will soon have
the opportunity to decide whether Nigeria’s time is up to bring its challenge,
so Nigeria is pulling out all the stops to manufacture the evidence it requires
to claim fraud.
“As Nigeria seeks to nullify the P&ID Award on the
grounds of a manufactured fraud investigation, it is important for all to know
what AG Malami has done under oath before the U.S. courts ,” the group said,
adding accusing the AGF of:
“Abuse of established diplomatic protocols and the mutual
legal assistance treaty
“Countries have a well-established mechanism to pursue
evidence for law enforcement investigations across national borders: mutual
legal assistance treaties (MLAT).
“Nigeria has just such a treaty with the United States,
which allows Attorney General Malami to send requests to the United States
Department of Justice. The Department of Justice can then evaluate the request
and, if it accords with due process and the U.S. Constitution, a federal
prosecutor may seek a subpoena to gather evidence. Nigeria has circumvented
this established diplomatic process, and is instead directly pursuing evidence
from U.S. citizens and companies on U.S. soil. Despite now making two separate
requests to the U.S.
“Courts to seek exactly the sort of evidence that it could
pursue through the MLAT, Nigeria has neither explained why it could not pursue
evidence through the MLAT, nor whether DOJ has in fact already rejected such a
request.
Nigeria’s decision to do an end-run around establish
diplomatic protocols using Section 1782 rather than asking DOJ for help has
important implications. DOJ plays an essential gatekeeping role in reviewing
applications for legal assistance, ensuring that foreign prosecutors aren’t
engaged in a witch-hunt that tramples due process rights by carrying out
domestic political vendettas with the imprimatur of U.S. courts for their
political gain. Nigeria’s deviation from this system cuts out this protection
entirely, leaving U.S. citizens and others vulnerable to such abuse at the
hands of AG Malami and his collaborator, Ibrahim Magu at the EFCC, both
well-known violators of human rights, according to the U.S. Department of State
and numerous civil society organisations the world over.”
It further accused Malami of misrepresentation to the U.S.
Courts, adding, “In addition to evading scrutiny by the DOJ of its sham
“investigation” of P&ID, Nigeria’s Section 1782 application is itself a
grossly misleading submission. Nigeria has stated that the application was necessary
for “criminal investigations and judicial proceedings pending in” Nigeria, but
that was not the case, at all.
“That is because the true purpose of Nigeria’s fishing
expedition in the U.S. was not to obtain evidence for use in Nigeria, but
rather to obtain ammunition for attacking P&ID’s arbitration award both in
the English Commercial Court and in its broader publicity campaign against
P&ID. Tellingly, Nigeria pretended that was not the case – telling the U.S.
Court that this was “rank speculation” – but then immediately started using
information it had gathered for precisely those purposes.
“In an attempt to evade paying P&ID, AG Malami – despite
the immense power already at his disposal – has willfully misled these
respected legal institutions and subverted established diplomatic channels to
escape oversight. Unfortunately, we’ve come to expect nothing less from
Nigeria’s chief law enforcement officer.
“In many ways, these revelations should not be surprising.
The myriad corruption allegations levelled against AG Malami tell their own
story, and these – along with the developments this week – colour his
credibility as a witness before the English Commercial Courts.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com