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The Repatriated Abacha Loot

The Repatriated Abacha Loot

A combined efforts of the international law and cooperation measures that set out the procedures for the repatriation, transfer, disposition and management of the assets, the agreement signed by the governments of Nigeria, the United States and the Bailiwick of Jersey, on the previously looted Nigeria funds by the late Head of State, Sanni Abacha, came to fruition with the repatriation of over $311 million dollars to Nigeria from the United States of America.

THE HOPE commends the resilience, dexterity and diplomacy of the Nigeria’s team of negotiators which started the litigation in 2014 and followed same in 2018 with the diplomatic process which led to final signing of the Asset Return Agreement for the recovery of the looted funds which were laundered from Nigeria by the late junta. THE HOPE is however sad that monies that could have helped in the rapid development of Nigeria had been looted and kept in Switzerland, Jersey Island in United Kingdom, United States and Liechtenstein, by a disloyal, unpatriotic and kleptomaniac political usurper. The setback the nation has suffered by his and others’ corrupt practices is beyond our wildest imagination.

IT is important to note that different regimes that came into power, from Abdulsalami to the Jonathan administration had at one time or the other recovered looted funds up to the tune of $4billion dollars in between them. Those funds unfortunately have not been properly accounted for by the alimentary canals and cabals of diehard corrupt public officers and politicians, thereby sealing the perpetual incarceration of Nigeria and her citizens to underdevelopment and needless deprivations.

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THE HOPE therefore views this new loot recovery with observatory caution, hoping that the funds would not be re-looted. To this end therefore, THE HOPE commends the government of the United States of America for the inclusion of conditionality for the release and use of the funds. By the agreement the following conditions are attached:, the looted funds would be used for infrastructural projects; the financed projects are audited by an additional, outside, independent auditor and monitored by an additional, independent civil society organization; the progress on the construction is monitored by an independent international engineering firm before progress payments are made and important documents concerning the disbursement of funds and the progress of the projects will be made available to the public. These put the burden of monitoring on civil societies, the media and the public. With good monitoring, it is possible to prevent the capital flight of the funds to personal pockets.

THUS, we commend the Federal Government’s intention at using these funds for verifiable projects. The intention at using it for the second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano expressways would create jobs, ease the cost and burden of transportation and also increase the viability of the informal sector in the country. Also, assigning part of the funds to the Mambilla Power Project would provide more electricity thereby boosting the industrial development of the nation and the productivity of small scale enterprises. These projects can be better monitored and assessed than the school feeding programme and palliative to which past funds have been assigned.

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HOWEVER, given the enormous funds being looted from our national treasury by kleptomaniac Heads of State, every Nigerian is highly embarrassed. These discoveries reveal the porous nature of our national treasury. This therefore calls for a national enquiry into the nation’s accounting and banking systems to discover their loopholes that promotes unlawful capital flights from the country. It is expected that these enquiries would bring to light fellow treasury looters still walking large; prosecute them and make them return such for the development of this nation, especially in these times of paucity of funds to the nation and her hardworking people.

FURTHERMORE, THE HOPE in strong terms demand that the National Assembly should at this time, evolve legislation with stiff consequences against treasury looting and the looters. These legislations must be preventive and punitive in nature. As at today, the nation’s laws against treasury looting is minimal in comparison to the consequences of this dastard acts against humanity.

FINALLY, given that the United States of America had hinted that other loots amounting to more than $300million exists, the Federal Government should set about recovering this loot and others for the development of the nation. However, THE HOPE wishes to remind the Federal Government that the manner in which the $311 million earlier repatriated is used would determine to a large extent the attitude of nations towards releasing the loots in their custody. To the Federal Government, it is therefore imperative to note that ‘to whom more is given, much is expected’.

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The Repatriated Abacha Loot

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