Solicitor-General harps on legal safeguards for foreign contracts
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs Beatrice Jedy-Agba, has said following the lessons learnt from the P&ID contract debacle, the government must implement measures to protect itself in future agreements.
She stressed the importance of such precautions, noting that other countries entering into partnerships with Nigeria came well-prepared for potential contract failures.
Jedy-Agba stated this on Tuesday in Abuja at the launch of federal contracts process and administration, which she said would enhance operational efficiency and reduce financial risk.
The Solicitor General bemoaned the developmental challenges and lack of clarity arising from contracts that the government entered into, despite having the Public Procurement Act and Fiscal Responsibility Act, among others.
She expressed dissatisfaction at ways laws were being undermined and cautioned the ministry’s staff against levity.
“You cannot just do what you like. We expect that you have capacity, which should reflect in the quality of agreement you are bringing,” she said.
The permanent secretary said legal advisors must do their best to avert failed contracts and their mitigating effects.
Deputy Director of the Ministry of Justice, Mr Augustine Kalu, said the launch was geared towards guiding the ministry and various departments on how to navigate contracts and get results.
He said one of its fundamental objectives was to ensure that projects that were not needed were not embarked upon.
“We will review feasibility studies, Public-Private Partnership arrangements, funding plans, and conduct due diligence to prevent project abandonment,” Kalu said.
The Chief Consultant to the ministry, Dr Mark Osa Igiehon, expressed the government’s commitment to taking proactive measures to prevent a recurrence of issues similar to those experienced with the P&ID contract.
He stated that under the new plan, the government aimed to engage in projects and contracts more strategically, utilising specialists to minimise the risk of project failure and ensure contracts were properly processed and recorded professionally.
“The government is now ready to take action on such high level, high valued and high-risk projects so that in the future, we will have fewer contract failures and would not have to pay huge sums of money on failed contracts,” he said.
