Manasseh Sogavare questions the Attorney-General’s alleged conflict of interest in the SBD64.68 million Lever Solomons settlement.
The Leader of the Official Opposition and Member of Parliament for East Choiseul, Manasseh Sogavare MP, has called on the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General to explain why the Attorney-General, Mr Gabriel Suri, personally signed the State’s agreement to settle a court case that he himself had brought against the State on behalf of Lever Solomons Limited.
Court documents show that in December 2016, Mr Suri, then principal of Suri’s Law Practice, prepared, settled and signed the Further Amended Claim for Lever Solomons Limited against the Attorney-General in High Court Civil Case No. 513 of 2015. That claim concerned Hells Point. It alleged that the State had trespassed on the land since July 2011, sought the removal of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force, and claimed millions of dollars in rent.
Mr Suri was appointed Attorney-General with effect from 23 May 2026. On 19 October 2026 he signed, as “Attorney-General – Counsel for Defendant/Appellant”, the Consent Order that was sealed by the Court of Appeal on 27 October 2026. That Order expressly covers the same case, HCC 513 of 2015. It fixes the amount the State must pay Lever Solomons for the 2017 orders, rent and interest at SBD64,678,871.78, withdraws the State’s appeals against the High Court judgment of 29 April 2026, and commits the State never to appeal again.
“The lawyer who drafted Lever Solomons’ claim against the State in 2016 is the same person who, as Attorney-General, signed the State’s agreement to pay that claim in 2026,” Hon. Sogavare said.
“That is not a technicality. It goes to the heart of whether the people of Solomon Islands had truly independent legal representation when SBD64.68 million of public money was committed.”
A clear conflict of interest
Sogavare said it is a basic rule of legal practice that a lawyer must not change sides and act against a former client in the same matter. A lawyer continues to owe duties of loyalty and confidentiality to a former client, and cannot act freely for the other side in the same dispute.
He said the Attorney-General is also a public officer bound by the Leadership Code in Chapter VIII of the Constitution. Section 94 requires every leader not to place himself in a position where he has, or could have, a conflict of interests, and not to allow his integrity to be called into question or to diminish public confidence in the integrity of Government.
“The Attorney-General is the principal legal adviser to the Government. Cabinet, the Ministry of Finance and the public were entitled to advice from someone with no prior loyalty to Lever Solomons – on whether to abandon the appeals, on how the SBD64.68 million was calculated, and on whether the State should give up its right to appeal forever,” he said.
Sogavare noted that the Minister for Lands, Housing and Survey is a former director of Lever Solomons Limited, and that company records as at May 2026 still listed him as a director. “When both the responsible Minister and the State’s chief lawyer have past connections to the company receiving the money, the Government cannot simply ask the public to trust that the deal was independent,” he said.
He added that the Opposition had already called on the Attorney-General to step aside from matters involving his former client APID. “The Hells Point settlement shows the same problem was not managed – and here it is even more direct, because it is the very same case.”
The Opposition is not calling for default
Sogavare made clear that the Opposition is not asking the Government to breach the Consent Order. The first instalment of SBD15 million falls due by 23 November 2026. If the State fails to pay on time, it would lose its rent-free occupation of Hells Point, rent and interest would start running again, and the discount of more than SBD2.2 million would be lost.
“I am not asking the Government to default on a court order. I am asking who advised Cabinet, whether the conflict was declared, and why this matter was not handed to someone with no prior loyalty to Lever Solomons,” he said.
Questions the Government must answer
1. Did the Attorney-General disclose to the Prime Minister and Cabinet that he had acted for Lever Solomons Limited in HCC 513 of 2015 before he advised on, negotiated or signed the settlement?
2. Why was the matter not handed to the Solicitor-General or to independent counsel with no prior connection to Lever Solomons?
3. Did Cabinet approve the settlement, the withdrawal of the appeals and the undertaking never to appeal again – and if so, on whose legal advice?
4. Who checked the calculation of SBD64,678,871.78 in the amended aide-memoire, and will the Government release it?
5. Are any legal fees owed, or have any been paid, by Lever Solomons Limited to Suri’s Law Practice in connection with these cases?
6. Did the Minister for Lands, Housing and Survey take any part in the decision?
“Solomon Islands must honour its legal obligations. But public money must be protected by advisers who are free of any conflict. The people deserve to know that, when SBD64.68 million was committed, the State’s lawyer was acting only for the State,” Sogavare said.
SOURCE// OPPOSITION PRESS RELEASE
