Fagbemi made this known during the ministry’s budget defence before the House of Representatives Committee on Justice, chaired by Hon. Olumide Osoba, Chief Fagbemi.
He however did not provide details of the recovery.
Nigeria recently signed an agreement for the return of $52.88 million in recovered assets from the United States linked to former Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Alison-Madueke.
He said to address damages and risks arising from poorly negotiated agreements, the justice ministry has developed a template for agreements and shared it with state governments.
The minister also said that the government will henceforth engage lawyers with necessary expertise to avoid judgments against the government, like the P&ID case.
“Some of these commercial transactions should not be entrusted to friends or lawyers simply due to patronage. They must have the requisite training and experience. We have learned our lessons in this regard.
“We are now ensuring that those we engage are vetted for competence, as advised during the P&ID case. When assigning cases, we focus on the counsel’s competence, not just their status or affiliations. For instance, being a constitutional lawyer in Nigeria does not necessarily make one proficient in commercial law or arbitration, whether offshore or locally.”
Fagbemi noted that while state governments have the liberty to engage in foreign transactions, they are not recognized in arbitration proceedings, only the national government assumes such responsibility.
“Back home, the Federal Government can ask sub-national governments to pay or indemnify the national government. If they fail to indemnify, deductions can be made from their allocations during FAAC disbursements.”
He assured that measures are being taken to ensure agreements are properly vetted and signed, adding that the ministry has declined to give approval to several agreements between foreign agencies when they do not meet standards.