Loan: Diplomatic immunity not same as commercial immunity —Malami

MINISTER of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, on Tuesday, joined the Minister of Transportation, Mr Chibuike Rotimi  Amaechi, to set the records straight on Nigeria’s sovereignty not being at risk in the country’s loan agreements with China.

“There is a difference between international diplomatic immunity which has to do with a nation’s sovereignty,  independent existence and commercial immunity, which has to do with a commitment to ensure repayment of loans,” Malami explained while answering questions alongside Amaechi on a television programme.

He said the misconception is that the National Assembly is looking at the diplomatic immunity as against the commercial immunity of a country when it has to do with loans, adding that there is no concession whatsoever made as it concerns Nigeria’s diplomatic immunity.

The AGF said: “If you talk of immunity within the context of diplomatic immunity, which has the implication of the independence of a state and its institutions in its own right, there is no concession whatsoever made by Nigeria as it relates to diplomatic immunity that has to do with its independent existence as a nation; neither was any concession made as related to the institutional diplomatic immunity of Nigerian institutions.

“But when you talk of immunity within the context of commercial sense, that is where I think we need to clarify issues with particular reference to the loans and commercial transactions among nations. “Concessions relating to immunity for the purpose of provision of the commercial guarantee are a normal, traditional ritual. Nations enter into respective interstate agreements and in the course of so doing, surrendering their jurisdictional immunity.

“It is on account of that, for example, that you see Nigeria signing an agreement with other institutions or nations and agreeing to a choice of territorial jurisdiction for the purpose of determining disputes when they arise. “So that is how  eventually you see Nigeria submitting to the jurisdiction for determination of a trade dispute in the United Kingdom, in  Paris and in other international fora or jurisdiction even when Nigeria as a nation has diplomatic immunity.”

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