Looted Funds: Falana Confusing Nigerians -AGF

Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has replied comments by Femi Falana, SAN, on the process of disbursement and use of recovered stolen funds based on the provisions of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
He said RMAFC has nothing specific on funds recovered from indicted public officers or assets recovered internationally and merely mentions accruals and disbursement of revenue from the Federation Account.
A statement yesterday by Malami’s spokesman, Umar Gwandu, said the questions of recovery of stolen funds from indicted public officers and illicit assets recovered internally are not contemplated by the spirit of the law internationally and are appropriately dealt with by other relevant laws.
The minister said it was misleading to give the impression that recoveries and usage of stolen funds stashed abroad are provided for by the RMAFC Act when recoveries are product of by multiple jurisdictional legislations, thereby bringing recoveries into the purview of conflict of laws.
“One cannot situate rights and entitlements on looted funds and recovered assets with myopic and narrow understating of concepts of the application of local legislation”, he noted.
“For the avoidance of doubt and the purpose of setting the record straight, the application of the looted funds can only factor within the context of mutual understanding and negotiations of international and multifaceted jurisdictional and territorial legislative issues.
“The recovery of stolen assets and the subsequent uses to which these funds may be employed are subject to international agreements between Nigeria and the affected countries, thereby bringing conflict of laws into contemplation.
“Importantly also, these repatriated funds are based on cooperation and mutual assistance agreements, especially the United Nation Convention against Corruption and Implementation of the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) Principles on the Repatriation of Stolen Assets.