$50bn: CSO Wants AGF To Act On Supreme Court Order

A Civil Society Organisation, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resources Centre) has said it will be writing the Attorney General of the Federal Federation to act on the order of the Supreme Court, which directed International Oil Companies (IOCs) to pay over $ 50 billion they were owed the country.

The Executive Director of HEDA Resources Centre, Sulaimon Arigbabu, made these known while speaking at a two-day First International Anti-Corruption And Climate Change Conference, supported by the MacArthur Foundation, held in Abuja on Wednesday.

The Supreme Court of Nigeria ordered that the Attorney General of the Federation, in the last dispensation, retrieve the considerable sum due to Nigeria from the IOCs between 2004 and 2019. The order has been implemented to date.

He said African countries, including Nigeria, have continued to suffer illicit financial flow while corruption remained a big issue where monies are looted, recovered and rebooted; loans are collected in the name of the people, but they do not often see what the loans are used for.

According to the Executive Director, it was high time African leaders looked inward to mobilize finances and work towards diversifying the economy from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The conference aimed to address such issues and recommend a way forward.

“Resources exist outside of the hydrocarbon investment to help Africa transit in terms of energy requirements for now and the future. Some of these resources are here and need to be mobilized. We talked about monies owed to Nigeria, over $50 billion by International Oil Companies, that the Supreme Court of Nigeria has ordered that the Attorney General of the Federation retrieve, but more needs to be done.

“Our organization will be writing to the current Attorney General to act on that order of the Supreme Court that IOCs should pay Nigeria the amount of over $50 billion between 2004 and 2019 when they were supposed to have worked the profit-sharing formula on oil revenue.“

Also speaking, a legal luminary, Femi Falana, said it was surprising that the government‘s failure to contain the activities of the illegal miners has led to an estimated $9 billion worth of gold being smuggled out of Nigeria yearly.

Falana, who refused to advise the government on tackling environmental degradation due to its imperviousness, charged HEDA and other CSOs, as well as labour unions, to mobilize Nigerians to challenge those who were destroying the environment, including the government.

„It will also surprise you that because the government has failed to contain the activities of the illegal miners, the environment is being degraded.

Trees are felled without any replacement, and gold is taken out of the country. It is estimated that about $9 billion worth of gold is smuggled out of Nigeria yearly, not by ordinary people but by highly placed criminal elements who sometimes even use private jets and helicopters.

“Right now, these illegal mining activities are also fueling terrorism. The terrorists also make a lot of money from mining to buy weapons. Because of corrupt practices, it is difficult for the country to combat terrorism, flooding, detraction of the environment, and pollution of the environment. If you have government officials engaged in reckless corruption, you can address climate change‘s challenges.

“I don‘t have advice for the government. The government is impervious. The government doesn‘t listen to advice. I suggest that organizations like HEDA and other progressive civil society organizations, including the labour unions, will have to mobilize Nigerians to challenge those destroying the environment, including the government,“ he noted.

On his part, Antonio Tricarico, the Programme Director – Fund Raising of Re: comm, said several corruption cases affecting the oil and gas industry involved different jurisdictions, and not only Nigeria but only in a few instances those convicted have been prosecuted.

“What I am saying is that we can not do justice if we don‘t address the legacy of the past. We can only allow an international company to leave the delta if we pay for the degradation or the cleanup.

“It is only by doing this that we can lay the foundation, like I said, for the rule of law in gaining ambition into the energy transition. Otherwise, if those responsible don‘t pay, we won‘t have funds for the transition,“ he added.