The outgoing British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Richard Gozney, on Wednesday, said that the British Government only demands a total cooperation from the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mike Aondoakaa (SAN).
He added that this development would ensure that corrupt public officials in Nigeria who stashed public funds in the United kingdom were appropriately dealt with.
He also said that the success of Nigeria�s democracy depended on the ability of President Umaru Yar�Adua to allow the Election Petitions Tribunals do their jobs without any interference from the executive.
Gozney, who spoke with our correspondent during a farewell cocktail party organised in his honour by the Nigeria �British Association in Lagos, said what the British Government expected from Aondoakaa was both judicial and investigative cooperation.
According to the outgoing envoy, the development was to ensure that not only were the present cases involving some Nigerian public officials successfully prosecuted, but to ensure that in future, Nigerian officials did not find London a safe haven to hide their loot.
The British Government had recently returned some money, allegedly stashed in London banks by a former Governor of Plateau State, Chief Joshua Dariye.
A former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, is also being investigated over funds he allegedly kept in London.
But Gozney, who said he would not speak on specific cases, since they are still court matters, insisted that the British Government required maximum cooperation from the AGF as did his predecessor, Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN).
He said, �I don�t want to comment on any particular case that is going on in any court but it is very clear we require cooperation at two levels, one at the investigation, the investigating authority in Britain and the ones here and that of the central government to central government between Nigeria and Britain.
�I am confident that we will get the same level of cooperation from the AGF as we have from his predecessor (Chief Ojo).
�He (the AGF) said very clearly and the President said so very clearly both in public and in private; I met him two days ago. He (the AGF) has also said it privately to me before.
�I think we are going to get the flow of judicial cooperation and investigative cooperation from him. They are two separate things.
�I am confident that is going to work well. I am not talking about one particular case now, I am talking of the whole process, so that we will be able to help you stop people putting stolen money through London, keeping money here and invest it here for infrastructure which Nigeria needs. We only demand that he cooperates with us.�
Gozney further said that the country�s democracy would not be in danger, as long as Yar�Adua kept to his words of not interfering with the judicial process and to allow the tribunals do their job professionally.
He said it was only in doing that that the question marks raised during the April elections could be properly addressed.
He said, �I have no fears about Nigeria�s democracy. The reason is that what President Umaru Yar�Adua has been overseeing in the past few months.
�The message he gave was that the election petitions tribunals must do their jobs. The President of Court of Appeal, Justice Umaru Abdullahi, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria himself, and the tribunals have shown the commitment to do their jobs without political interference. That means the combination of the first ever civilian-to civilian transition is now being backed up properly.
�Whether there were a few question marks and a few damaged corners about the election is being repaired by the election tribunals.�
Oct262007