Justice Ministry Needs N30bn Annually To Settle N150bn Debt —Malami

The Attorney -General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami,  on Wednesday, said debt judgements incurred by the Federal Government has risen to N150bn.

The AGF stated this when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Judiciary,  Human Rights and Legal Matters.

He said the bills accumulated because the ministry was not funded regularly to meet its obligations in that regard.

He, therefore, appealed to the Senate panel to appropriate N30bn to the Ministry annually to defray the debts.

He said, “The Ministry of Justice was mandated to take inventory and explore avenues for the payment of judgement debt which has become hydra-headed.

“This has arisen because it was only in 2017 that the sum of N10bn was disbursed for the payment of judgement debt as appropriated.

“As it stands, the sum of over N150bn remains unpaid, prompting beneficiaries of this sum to keep mounting pressure on the Ministry.

“Distinguished members of this committee are hereby respectively requested to intervene on this long standing vex issue by appropriating the sum of N30bn annually to mitigate this challenge.

“It will also forestall possible friction, accrued interests and unwarranted litigations arising from our failure to effect payment.”