The House of Representatives on Thursday resolved to oversee the issuance of promissory notes for the judgement debts totaling $556,754,584.31, GB398,526.17, and N226,281,801,881.64 incurred.
The House of Representatives has emphasised the necessity of ensuring proper payment of top-priority judgement debts incurred by ministries, departments, and agencies of the government through promissory notes.
This resolution followed the adoption of a motion by Hon. Lanre Okunlola (APC-Lagos).
The lawmaker urged the House to acknowledge the existence and magnitude of the judgment debt incurred by the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of the Government.
He argued that addressing the judgement debts urgently is crucial to safeguarding the financial stability of the government.
In his lead debate, Hon. Okunlola stressed the need for the present administration to resolve the top-priority judgment debt incurred by the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of Government through the issuance of promissory notes totalling $556,754,584.31, GB398,526.17, and N226,281,801,881.64.
“The House is aware that various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of Government have incurred substantial judgement debt totalling the sum of $556,754,584.81, GB98,526.17, and N226,281,801,881.64, which poses a significant financial burden on the nation’s finances.
“The House is concerned that the judgement debts are top-priority obligations that require prompt resolution to ensure the financial stability and reputation of the government.
“The House is cognizant that it is essential to address these judgement debts in a responsible and transparent manner.”
Consequently, the House mandated the Committee on Aids, Loans, and Debt Management to oversee the process of issuing promissory notes and report back for further legislative action.
In a swift reaction to the resolution passed by the House, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Comrade Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, expressed grave concern over the impacts of the public debt as well as the dwindling revenues triggered by unabated oil theft.
While urging the new Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, to ensure that due process is followed during negotiation and signing of agreements by various public institutions, he said: “First and foremost, public officials should know that the public office they are holding is a trust on behalf of their nation. Compromising the nation’s resources for personal interest is unpatriotic and a betrayal of trust.
“Nigeria has suffered similar cases where government officials undervalue payments or taxes due to the nation, compromising the country’s resources.
This has been going on to an exceptional dimension, with Nigerian officials conniving with foreign companies to defraud the country.
“We have a clear case of P&D where a non-existent company came to Nigeria, established overnight, and is now claiming payment for work they never did, accumulating to billions of dollars. This has to stop.
“The Ministry of Justice and the Minister of Justice, in particular, should understand that the task ahead of them is about trust and protecting the country’s image.
“We cannot undervalue resources that should come to the nation and settle for peanuts.
Proper dialogue and negotiations for what is due to Nigeria should be done, not collecting a certain percentage and letting the rest of the money disappear while the country is suffering from a lack of funds.
“Look at our debt profile, which has tremendously increased in the last three months, and consider the fact that we are not earning enough, mainly due to oil theft.
As long as we cannot collect the money due to the country because of the interests of a few individual public officials, that’s a dangerous betrayal.
“It’s a huge task given to the Minister of Justice to ensure that there’s justice and fairness in terms of dealings, either in recovering resources or signing any agreement that should favour the country,” Comrade Rafsanjani urged.
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