An Ad hoc Committee of the House of Representatives has accused the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, and Interpol of interfering with the investigation.
The Committee, which is investigating the nation’s stolen crude since 2014, questioned why a whistleblower would be invited by Interpol at the request of the Ministry of Justice so soon after the House’s investigation began.
The Committee is investigating a whistleblower’s allegation of illegal sale of 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s bonny light crude in China in 2015, valued at 2.4 billion dollars.
However, the Head of the National Central Bureau of Interpol Nigeria, Garba Umar, said the Bureau only acted on the request of the AGF.
The Chairman, House Ad hoc Committee on Oil Theft, Mark Gbillah said, “There is a group called Advocacy for Good Governance and Free Nigeria. That is the so-called Civil Society Organisation that wrote to the Attorney General claiming there was this international gang of blackmailers trying to blackmail senior officials of the government. How come the Attorney General responded to allegations by a faceless body? That means the Attorney General himself did not ascertain the veracity of any organisation.”
The Committee, dissatisfied with the submission of Interpol, accused the AGF of interfering with the investigation of the House.
The Committee feared the safety of the whistleblower and insisted that the Ministry of Justice should not be making direct requests to Interpol but should go through the police, as Interpol by law is only expected to respond to requests by local law enforcement agencies.