The term, “Abacha Loot” has acquired a life and meaning of its own.
What does it mean? What are the facts and fiction of Nigeria’s wealth stolen by the man, Sani Abacha, the man who ruled Nigeria with an iron fist from 1993 to 1998? Is it possible for one man to steal as much as the over $2 billion he is credited to have siphoned from his country’s coffers?
These questions have come to the fore again following news this week that governments of the United States and Jersey have repatriated to Nigeria $308 million, (equivalent of N112.05 billion) stolen by Abacha.
According to a joint press statement on Monday, the Nigerian government, US Department of Justice, and the government of Jersey, the amount was described as the largest single asset repatriation that Jersey has ever undertaken and it is the latest in a series of other funds stolen by Abacha and his family, repatriated from Europe and the United States, and now popularly referred to as the Abacha Loot.
The battle to repatriate the laundered funds that make up this new repatriation went through a long legal process described in the joint statement as a case of “a result of extensive co-operation between the Jersey authorities, the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with crucial assistance from other governments around the world”.
Negotiation to return the stolen funds is said to have started in 2018 and it was agreed that the funds would be used for projects administered by the ‘Sovereign Investment Authority of Nigeria’ and would be independently audited. The Nigerian government was also required to set up a Monitoring team to oversee the implementation of the projects and to provide regular progress reports.
“The Nigerian government, in consultation with the other Parties, will also engage Civil Society Organisations, who have expertise in substantial infrastructure projects, civil engineering, anti-corruption compliance, anti-human trafficking compliance, and procurement to provide additional monitoring and oversight,” the statement explained. According to the agreement, the repatriated funds would be spent on the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway, Abuja – Kano Road and the Second Niger Bridge.
Following this repatriation, another $18 million could be repatriated to Nigeria after a pending resolution of Jersey’s Royal Court. The amount is being withheld after a claim on it was made by an unnamed third party but Jersey and the United States will keep $5 million each to cover the costs and expense in the recovery of assets.
Sani Abacha, born 20th September 1943 was Head of State of Nigeria from 1993 as a military general and dictator who tried to convert himself to a politician with maximum powers after leading the army and defence portfolios under previous governments.
Abacha died in mysterious circumstances on 8th June 1998 at a time it was felt nothing could save Nigeria and Nigerians from his harsh clutches and policies.
He was succeeded as Head of State by General Abdulsakami Abubakar who stayed only a few months and handed over to a civilian government headed by Olusegun Obasanjo to usher in Nigeria’s fourth Republic.
Since Abacha’s death, succeeding governments tried in various ways to have the wealth he illegally amassed repatriated to Nigeria. Some of the efforts have been successful and mind-boggling figures have been touted as returned by foreign governments and banks to Nigeria.
The Abacha family was said to have voluntarily returned about $1bn to the Federal Government a while back which does not seem to be part of the $2.2billion being bandied about.
According to an internet meme, $227m was returned on June 25, 2014 from Lichtenstein while the Swiss ambassador to Nigeria is said to have also confirmed that $700m (N112bn) had been sent back to the Nigerian government about the same time.The US government was reported to have seized $480m of the loot and the Swiss authorities froze about $640m (N102.4bn).
Such figures are so out of this world but with the repatriations that are being reported as being made, there must be truth in the figures, but you cannot also discount the fiction.
Abacha was a larger-than-life figure. All indications are that he also illegally acquired larger-than-life amounts of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth. There is no doubt about this anymore. But we need to separate facts from fiction and know exactly how much is involved, how much has been discovered and how much successfully recovered from wherever.
Questions keep coming up for the looters and all others who have acquired and continue to acquire humongous wealth – do they think they will live for ever to enjoy their acquisitions? Or do they think they will ship some to the life beyond so they can come our to enjoy life even in death?
One request we make to the authorities is to ensure that, like the new repatriation from Jersey which is tied to funding specific projects that will benefit Nigerians, all repatriations should be used for such nationally beneficial projects thst will touch the lives of Nigerians who have been the main victims of these stolen funds which were obviously originally meant for the nation’s development. We need to have more transparency from government on how and what these recovered funds are spent on, for whose benefit and next line of action for more recoveries.
We are quite sure Abacha was not the only one – living or dead – that looted our treasury. Nemesis ought to bring everybody to book and the funds they looted, brought back in.
IMAGE CREDIT: allafrica.com, Wikipedia, The Nation
Epa Ogie Eboigbe, veteran journalist, broadcaster and public affairs specialist writes on, and analyses current and historical issues with a ‘wise pen’.
This current government doesn’t have the courage and sincerity to go after other looters of the Nigerian Treasury. That’s inspite of the noise they are making about war on corruption.
To all the ambassadors of poverty;
It is meritorious to make use of these national funds to do things that in the next generations to come people will sing your praises for your good works…think about it…if Sani Abacha had spent half of what he looter for national development we would be singing his praises for ever and wouldn’t have thought about what he swindled from this country.