The former attorney general of the federation and minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa (SAN) has denied being involved in the negotiation of compensation between the Kano State government and the pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer for the deaths and permanent disabilities of the meningitis drugs trial victims.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, Aondoakaa said since the Kano government had already set up a committee for the negotiation, he felt there was no need for the interference of the federal government because the victims were people in Kano.
“The federal government has nothing to do than to give support to the Kano state government. When I came in, the immediate past vice president was the prosecutor engaged by the Kano state government. But it was very necessary for the federal attorney general to own it and to grant him the fiat to prosecute. There was a lot of pressure but I went ahead and granted the people the fiat to prosecute.
“I did not stop there but I went ahead under mutual assistance treaty requests for the Pfizer directors who were directly involved in the massacre to be brought to justice in Nigeria and I forced Pfizer to its knees.
“When it came to the issue of direct compensation, the Kano state government had already set up a committee and I felt there was no need for the federal government, because the victims were people in Kano, children in Kano. I asked the Kano state government since they had their lawyer, the former vice president, who was very competent, to go ahead and have direct negotiation.
“They negotiated and arrived at the sum of 75 million dollars. Initially, when I came in, Pfizer was offering 100 thousand per victim. The argument was that an average Nigerian policeman, if he dies on duty, we would pay the 100 thousand and I told them the victim that died could have been the president. Some of them could have been the secretary general of the United Nations and I would not support that idea.
“So, i went ahead and issued a warrant, i got the federal high court to issue a warrant for their arrest and also sent the warrant to the interpol.
“When it came to the monetary aspect, I said the money should be negotiated with the Kano state government and be paid directly to Kano. Not a kobo came to the ministry of justice and even when they wanted to have the national hospital upgraded as part of the compensation, I directed them to go to Kano and the Kano state government should give them land. So the federal ministry of justice had nothing to do with it, rather I should be commended.”
Amidst the revelations, the former Attorney General addressed allegations of external pressure and interference from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. He stated how the company had attempted to discredit him by hiring individuals to investigate his personal affairs.
“One striking aspect you get from this is that people have come to understand how Pfizer hired people to investigate me and went ahead to put pressure on me which I resisted in the interest of the country. Whatever happened with regards to the compensation in Kano, i didn’t not know about it but I knew that the Kano state government got 75 million dollars and I also knew that the Kano state government was to provide land for Pfizer to build a hospital.
“The money could have been sent to the ministry of justice; to me but I felt that I didn’t want to have anything to do with Pfizer because I was quite aware that they were blackmailing me, but I was determined to make sure that they paid for it. So, whatever the Kano State government renegotiated and accepted with and from them, I had no hand in it.”
He further expressed confidence in the current administration’s commitment to safeguarding public servants who act in the nation’s best interests.
“I believe the current president will take steps to protect me, who as a public servant, was doing what I was supposed to do. It is disgraceful for Pfizer to hire somebody to go round and check whether I had corruption matters but I didn’t care because I do not have a senior account anywhere in the world.
“I had pressure even from some of the members of the federal executive council that Pfizer had got to make sure that I do not issue the fiat nor issue an international arrest warrant. The world has come to know the kind of company that Pfizer is and it’s time for Nigeria to get up and defend what I did.”
Chioma Kalu
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