"The allegation is unfounded. It lacks merit and indeed substance," the minister told the lawmakers.
The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has described the alleged "illegal sales of 48 million barrels of crude oil" as baseless and lacking in merit.
Mr Malami stated this on Thursday when he finally appeared before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the sales of the crude oil.
"The allegation is unfounded. It lacks merit and indeed substance," the minister told the lawmakers.
Background
The House had in December 2022 resolved to probe the alleged missing barrels of crude oil allegedly sold in China by some Nigerian officials.
The resolution followed a motion moved by Ibrahim Isiaka (APC, Ogun), who claimed in his motion that the tip was provided by a whistleblower.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Malami shunned several invitations by the lawmakers, prompting the committee to issue a seven-day ultimatum for him to appear.
Presidential probe reveals no evidence
Mr Malami, while reacting to the sales of the crude oil, said President Muhammadu Buhari got the news of the alleged missing oil in 2016, and set up a committee to investigate the matter.
He said the committee comprised himself, the Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, a former Director General of State Security Services, Lawal Daura, and former Chief of Staff to Mr Buhari, Abba Kyari.
He stated that the panel could not get evidence to back up the "rumour" on the allegation, stressing that the committee could not even link the purported oil to Nigeria.
"Let me state on record and for the benefit of Nigerians and the committee that the allegations relating to the 48 million barrels are baseless. The allegation is unfounded. It lacks merit and indeed substance.
"The allegation in its own right is devoid of any reasonable ground pointing to a material suspicion cogent enough to invoke the constitutional oversight of the committee.
"Why do I say so? Sometime in 2016, allegations were rife and hyped in the social media. There were allegations of the existence of stolen 48 million barrels of Nigerian crude in China said to have been valued at $2.4 billion.
"President Muhammadu Buhari informally requested the Attorney-General, making reference to my humble person, Mele Kyari, Lawal Daura, former DG of DSS; and late Abba Kyari; to look into it and advise.
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"But unfortunately, for there to be a reasonable ground for suspicion, at least, you require certain basic facts," he said.
Mr Malami also informed the committee that the matter is now subjudice because some persons attempted to use the recovery of the missing oil to commit fraud.
"The idea of the product does not arise but the idea of a fraudulent syndicate trying to extort money from the federal government is what we followed," he said.
He added: "So we could not establish the substance in the allegation because detailed information to confirm the existence and origin of the shipment such as a sample of the oil, vessel involved loading point etc, location of the crude in China was not provided.
"So we reported to the president that we were unable to confirm the veracity of the allegation, hence, no further action was taken by my office."
Mr Malami also declined to provide the committee with the case file on the prosecution of the suspects in the fraud case. He advised it to respect the principle of separation of power.
Following disagreement on the issue between Mr Malami and the lawmakers, the committee resolved that the AGF should re-appear next week.
