Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), says negotiation between the Federal Government and Process and Industrial Development, better known as P&ID is not impossible.
Malami said this while speaking on a programme on Arise TV on Wednesday.
“Settlement is indeed an attribute of arbitral and judicial proceedings; so you cannot rule out the possibility”
The AGF, who also doubles as the Minister of Justice, said negotiations remain part of the legal process.
He, however, noted that the general interest of all Nigerians would guide the government in its negotiation with the firm since the country had been able to establish that the P&ID contract was obtained through fraudulent means.
Malami added that negotiations after establishing a case of fraud would indeed be a “tall order.”
Responding to a question, he said, “Generally speaking, when it comes to judicial proceedings or perhaps arbitral proceedings for that matter, one cannot rule wholeheartedly with clear finality, conclude that there should not be perhaps any room for the possibility of settlement.
“The settlement is indeed an attribute of arbitral and judicial proceedings; so you cannot rule out the possibility. But then, where fraud, corruption, material misrepresentation compromises processes and procedures are an issue, I wonder at what point you can now submit to the settlement arrangement, taking into consideration what responsibility we have as a nation of sustaining and upholding the public interest.
“So, in as much as I cannot rule out the possibility of a settlement being a natural attribute of arbitral and indeed judicial proceeding, the fact remains that where fraud, corruption, criminality, criminal conspiracy, material misrepresentation are concerned, it is indeed a tall order.”