Erstwhile Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), on Monday advised the Federal Government to institute fraud charges against officials of the Process and Industrial Developments firm for entering into a fraudulent contract with some Nigerians officials.
Aondoakaa gave the advice during an interview with Channels Television flagship programme, Sunrise Daily on Monday.
“Everyone involved must face the law including the foreigner. You cannot do this in the United States,” he said.
The former AGF who served in the late Umaru Yar’Adua-led administration between 2007 and 2010, said the contract with P&ID was illegal from the onset.
He revealed that the contract was not approved by the Federal Executive Council, adding that there was no budgetary provision for such a contract.
He, therefore, advised the government to tackle the issue from the root since illegality cannot be the foundation of a legitimate contract.
Aondoakaa said the contract was in contravention of the Infrastructural Regulatory Commission Act and Public Procurement Act.
“This happened in secrecy. I contacted the DG of the Infrastructural Regulatory Commission and he was also shocked. Everything that is coming to us now is shocking. Ignorance of law is no excuse. If you are a foreign country coming to Nigeria, you ought to know the law. You ought to know if the contract was appropriated in the budget,” the former AGF argued.
He said the President himself has no power to unilaterally approve contracts without recourse to the Federal Executive Council.