Minister Malami Says Allegations Of Illegal Sale Of 48M Barrels Of Oil Are ‘Baseless’

Abubakar Malami (SAN), minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation, has finally broken his silence and rejected the allegations thrown at him concerning the illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil to China in 2015.

Malami was supposed to be present before the House of Representatives Adhoc Committee over the alleged loss of $2.4 billion in revenue from the transaction. However, he did not show up, prompting the committee to threaten him.

"Let me state on record and for the benefit of Nigerians and the committee, that the allegations relating to the 48 million barrels are baseless," the minister told the committee on Thursday, according to Punch. "The allegation is unfounded. It is lacking in merit, and indeed lacking in substance."

"It is in its own right — the allegation — devoid of any reasonable grounds pointing to a material suspicion that is cogent enough to invoke the constitutional oversight of the committee," he continued. "Why do I say so? Sometime in 2016, allegations were rife and hyped in social media."

He then mentioned that President Muhammadu Buhari "informally requested" him alongside Mele Kyari, group managing director at Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation; Lawal Daura, former director general of the Department of State Services; and the late Abba Kyari and him, who served as chief of staff to the president, to look into it and advise accordingly.

Malami told the committee that they should at least require basic facts.

"If you are talking of a product, you cannot establish the substance relating thereto without confirming the origin of the purported product in China," he explained, according to the outlet. "If you talk of a product in China, is it of Nigerian origin? That can be established by way of sample and specification."

He questioned if the oil was Bonny Light, the light-sweet crude oil grade made in Nigeria, and added that the basic detail of the product's existence and its connection to Nigeria was not there at all.

Malami also said the "issue is simple" and there are "no reasonable grounds for suspicion of the fact that the purported oil product either exists in spirit or in fact."

"All efforts on our part to get details had proven abortive," he added. "So, it was a committee that was dead on arrival because it had not been formally constituted and our informal findings did not support, suggest or provide information that could support (the investigation). So, we could not establish the substance in the allegation."

The minister concluded his statement by mentioning that the Office of the Attorney-General does not maintain custody of an account, noting that all accounts associated with recoveries are being maintained by the Central Bank, according to People's Gazette.