On-the-recent-return-of-$311-abacha-loot-to-nigeria-the-need-for-transparency-and-public-accountability
September 7, 2020 | News
ON THE RECENT RETURN OF $311 ABACHA LOOT TO NIGERIA – THE NEED FOR TRANSPARENCY AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY
Now that the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, through a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Umar Gwandu, has revealed that approximately $311,797,866.11 of the Sani Abacha loot has been repatriated from the US and Jersey, we only urge that the said funds should be used expeditiously, transparently, and those concerned should be accountable for every kobo spent in carrying out infrastructural projects as intended with the said loot.
According to Mr. Malami, “The amount increased significantly from over $308 million as stated in a press release in February to over $311 million because of the interest that accrued from February 3, 2020, to 28th April, 2020, when the fund was transferred to the Central Bank of Nigeria.” The justice minister noted that the litigation process for the return of these asset titled “Abacha III” commenced in 2014, while the diplomatic process that culminated in the signing of the Asset Return Agreement on February 3, 2020, by the governments of Nigeria, the US and Jersey commenced in 2018.
Let us recall that, as part of the conditions to repatriate the said loot, an agreement was signed by the Federal Government of Nigeria and the United States of America Island of Jersey, which among other things, required that Nigeria will repay any funds lost/re-stolen as a result of any new corruption or fraud to the account established to hold the returned assets. Let us also recall that the said Abacha recovered loot, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Ferdinand Nwonye, will be used to fund, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Abuja – Kano Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge, and will be supervised by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).
There is also the question of, why was the South-South left out in the planned projects to be executed with the said Abacha loot? The loot is from the oil and gas extraction business in the South-South region, as such, they should also benefit from it as well.
It is also a good development that, according to the AGF, the country was in the process of establishing a Project Monitoring Team to oversee the implementation of the projects and report regularly on progress made to the public. In his words: “To ensure transparent management of the returned assets, the Nigerian government will also engage a civil society organization, who has combined expertise in substantial infrastructure projects, civil engineering, anti-corruption compliance, anti-human trafficking compliance, and procurement to provide additional monitoring and oversight.”
While all of these are welcome development, which we believe other foreign nations where Nigeria’s wealth has been starched in oversea accounts, should equally have such agreement with the Nigerian authorities for every repatriated fund, we would only hope that things would go as planned. Obviously, the US Government are aware that if the said Abacha loot is repatriated, it will still end up in private pockets of politicians and their fronts, regardless of whether the funds are meant to execute some identified projects. That is the only reason why they came up with this repayment agreement if the money is not used properly. Mind you, Swiss authorities have already returned $300m (£230m) to Nigeria as part of the seizures from Abacha. A further $30m (£23m) from Britain and $144m (£111m) from France is expected to be recovered, according to the US Department of Justice.
Truth is, the Nigerian masses are tired of hearing every now and then, of huge amounts of stolen public funds that were repatriated to Government coffers, but the people do not get to know what these funds were used for, or have a taste of such funds in terms of basic infrastructure. But with such agreements, like the one signed between US and the Nigerian Government, we are certain that at least, it will go a long way in making the Nigerian Government authorities concerned to be more cautious and accountable in how they use the said funds in the execution of the Three infrastructure projects in question. At least, now they know that if the said recovered Abacha loot is not judiciously used to execute the stated projects, they would have to repay. The only problem with this is the possibility of those in government currently may decide to misuse/misappropriate the said funds and then leave the burden responsibility of possible repayment to the next Government regime. Not unless the monitoring authorities would have a way to trace and identify how every kobo is spent and how they were able to account for the funds in relations to executed project(s) that will be on ground.
At least if all goes as planned and agreed by both Governments, Nigerans can point to what the Abacha loot will be used for. This is exactly what we have been crying about; let there be some measure of ‘monitoring and evaluation’ of every farthing voted for by the Government, or repatriated from oversea accounts into Government coffers for any project in the country. Let there be a Second and Third-Eye to look at how such funds are expended. And let there be some serious repercussions and consequences for defaulters who mismanaged/misappropriated such public funds. It is when there is no element of evaluation and repercussion for people’s actions, that they tend to do whatever please them and get away with it.
Zik Gbemre
May 7, 2020
We Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
Now that the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, through a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Umar Gwandu, has revealed that approximately $311,797,866.11 of the Sani Abacha loot has been repatriated from the US and Jersey, we only urge that the said funds should be used expeditiously, transparently, and those concerned should be accountable for every kobo spent in carrying out infrastructural projects as intended with the said loot.
According to Mr. Malami, “The amount increased significantly from over $308 million as stated in a press release in February to over $311 million because of the interest that accrued from February 3, 2020, to 28th April, 2020, when the fund was transferred to the Central Bank of Nigeria.” The justice minister noted that the litigation process for the return of these asset titled “Abacha III” commenced in 2014, while the diplomatic process that culminated in the signing of the Asset Return Agreement on February 3, 2020, by the governments of Nigeria, the US and Jersey commenced in 2018.
Let us recall that, as part of the conditions to repatriate the said loot, an agreement was signed by the Federal Government of Nigeria and the United States of America Island of Jersey, which among other things, required that Nigeria will repay any funds lost/re-stolen as a result of any new corruption or fraud to the account established to hold the returned assets. Let us also recall that the said Abacha recovered loot, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Ferdinand Nwonye, will be used to fund, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Abuja – Kano Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge, and will be supervised by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).
There is also the question of, why was the South-South left out in the planned projects to be executed with the said Abacha loot? The loot is from the oil and gas extraction business in the South-South region, as such, they should also benefit from it as well.
It is also a good development that, according to the AGF, the country was in the process of establishing a Project Monitoring Team to oversee the implementation of the projects and report regularly on progress made to the public. In his words: “To ensure transparent management of the returned assets, the Nigerian government will also engage a civil society organization, who has combined expertise in substantial infrastructure projects, civil engineering, anti-corruption compliance, anti-human trafficking compliance, and procurement to provide additional monitoring and oversight.”
While all of these are welcome development, which we believe other foreign nations where Nigeria’s wealth has been starched in oversea accounts, should equally have such agreement with the Nigerian authorities for every repatriated fund, we would only hope that things would go as planned. Obviously, the US Government are aware that if the said Abacha loot is repatriated, it will still end up in private pockets of politicians and their fronts, regardless of whether the funds are meant to execute some identified projects. That is the only reason why they came up with this repayment agreement if the money is not used properly. Mind you, Swiss authorities have already returned $300m (£230m) to Nigeria as part of the seizures from Abacha. A further $30m (£23m) from Britain and $144m (£111m) from France is expected to be recovered, according to the US Department of Justice.
Truth is, the Nigerian masses are tired of hearing every now and then, of huge amounts of stolen public funds that were repatriated to Government coffers, but the people do not get to know what these funds were used for, or have a taste of such funds in terms of basic infrastructure. But with such agreements, like the one signed between US and the Nigerian Government, we are certain that at least, it will go a long way in making the Nigerian Government authorities concerned to be more cautious and accountable in how they use the said funds in the execution of the Three infrastructure projects in question. At least, now they know that if the said recovered Abacha loot is not judiciously used to execute the stated projects, they would have to repay. The only problem with this is the possibility of those in government currently may decide to misuse/misappropriate the said funds and then leave the burden responsibility of possible repayment to the next Government regime. Not unless the monitoring authorities would have a way to trace and identify how every kobo is spent and how they were able to account for the funds in relations to executed project(s) that will be on ground.
At least if all goes as planned and agreed by both Governments, Nigerans can point to what the Abacha loot will be used for. This is exactly what we have been crying about; let there be some measure of ‘monitoring and evaluation’ of every farthing voted for by the Government, or repatriated from oversea accounts into Government coffers for any project in the country. Let there be a Second and Third-Eye to look at how such funds are expended. And let there be some serious repercussions and consequences for defaulters who mismanaged/misappropriated such public funds. It is when there is no element of evaluation and repercussion for people’s actions, that they tend to do whatever please them and get away with it.
Zik Gbemre
May 7, 2020
We Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes