General Abacha, who ruled Nigeria for five years after a 1993 coup, is believed to be among the ranks of Congo’s Mobutu Sese Seko as one of Africa’s most avaricious looters in power. Investigation by WDNews reveal that the late military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha pillaged the country’s coffers to the tune of $210 billion (N73.5 trillion, with the exchange rate at all time high of N350 per dollar), which is the country’s budget for approximately 13 years, using an annual budget of N6 trillion. Of that figure, past Nigerian governments have, in the last 11 years, received over $1 billion from the Swiss and American governments.



Monies recovered
Pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, had in November 2006, in London, said that Gen. Sani Abacha looted over $6 billion from Nigeria and that $2 billion of the loot had been recovered.

This was still reiterated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his book titled “My Watch”, where he claimed he left in the national treasury over N287 billion, made up of $2bn, £100m and N10bn in cash and property, being the loot recovered from the late dictator, Gen. Abacha.

According to President Obasanjo, the funds were paid into the treasury through the Central Bank of Nigeria before he handed over power to the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua on May 29, 2007.

He disclosed, “In total, by the time I left government in May 2007, over $2 billion and £100 million had been recovered from the Abacha family abroad, and well over N10 billion in cash and properties locally. All were paid to the public treasury through the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“By the time I left government, Enrico (Monfrini, a Swiss lawyer) told me that if he continued to get support for his work, there was still about $1 billion he believed could still be recovered from the Abacha family and cronies.”



The returns
Meanwhile, Switzerland has returned $723 million (about N142.43 billion) that the late Abacha stashed away in Swiss accounts and they are now set to return another $380 million, stolen by the dictator with the proviso that the Nigerian government will judiciously use the money to positively touch the lives of its citizenry.

Also, the Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein has repatriated $227million worth of loot stolen by Gen. Abacha in 2014. The State of Jersey in Channels Island has announced its readiness to return £315 million to Nigeria as part of funds recovered from the late dictator. The Island had earlier returned the sum of £140 million to Nigeria in two batches.

Reliable sources reveal that they were yet to uncover billions of dollars of Abacha’s humongous loot stashed away in offshore banks.



The damage and culprits
The United Nations and the African Union’s report have claimed that about $148 billion is pilfered from the African continent annually by political leaders, multinational corporations, the business elite and civil servants with complicity of banking and property industries in Europe and North America. Taking a swipe at the Western media, the reports bemoaned that even though Western banks act as safe havens for looted funds, very little attention is received from the Western media to expose these reprehensible and depraved acts. No effort has been made by the political elite in Europe and America to force the banks to return these stolen monies because they are often the shareholders and beneficiaries of the profits made by these banks.

According to sources, after the demise of Gen. Sani Abacha in 1998, detectives in Nigeria, Europe and America stumbled on over 130 bank accounts in Australia, New Zealand, London, New York, France and Switzerland among other countries where some of the money stolen were kept.

The banks in Europe and America alleged to have aided, abetted and provided sanctuary for Abacha’s stolen funds include: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, ANZ, London Branch; Bank Len, Zurich; Bankers Trust Company, London; Bankers Trust Company, Frankfurt; Bankers Trust Company, New York; Banque Barring Brothers, Geneva; Bank in Liechtenstein A.G Vaduz; Barclays Bank, New York; Barclays Bank, London, Banque Edonard Constant, General; Banque Nationale De Paris, Geneva; Banque Nationale De Paris, London, Banqwue National De Paris, Basle; Citibank, N.A. London; Citibank NA, New York, Citibank N.A. Luxenbourg; Citibank Zurich; Credit Lyonnais, New York; Credit Suisse, New York, Credit Suisse, General; Credit Suisse, Zurich; Deutche Morgan Grenfell, Jersey; FIBI Bank (Schweiz) A.G Zurich; First Bank of Boston, London; Goldman Sachs and Company, Zurich; Gothard Bank, Geneva; LGT Liechtenstein Bank, Vaduz; Liechtenstein Landesbank, Vanduz; M.M. Warburg and Company Luxembourg; M. M. Warburg and Company, Zurich; M. M. Warburg and Company, Hamburg; Merrill Lynch Bank, New York; Merrill Lynch Bank, Geneva; Midland Bank, London; National Westminister Bank, London; Paribus, London; Paribus, Geneva; Royal Bank of Scotland, Leeds; Standard Bank London Limited, London; UBS AG, Zurich; UBS AG, Geneva; Union Bancaire Privee, Geneva; Union Bancaire Privee, London; London Branch; Verwaltungs Und Private Bank A. G., Vaduz; and ANZ, New York; ANZ, Frankfurt amongst others.



The twist
Even though President Muhammadu Buhari who ruled Nigeria between 1983 and 1985 and his successor, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida gave Abacha the clean bill in Kano on the 8th of June 2008 at the remembrance prayer marking 10 years of the death of Abacha who ruled between 1993 and 1998, President Buhari is now in the front burner, trying to make sure all the monies Abacha stashed in foreign countries are returned.

Some pundits, however, are of the strong opinion that the Nigerian government love playing to the gallery unnecessarily, alleging that every successive government always want to cash-in and partake in the recovering of the vaulted Abacha loot without giving an accurate account of how much has been recovered and spent.

The weighty poser now is; does it mean that Abacha was the only past leader that pillaged the country’s treasury? Is it because he is dead, that is why his skullduggery is constantly unearthed? Other past leaders who also plundered this country’s coffers with reckless abandon, why haven’t they been investigated instead of allowing them to triumphantly walk away with their booties?



Victim of circumstances
The younger brother of Gen. Abacha, Mr. Abdulkadir Abacha, who spoke to WDNews exclusively recently via telephone, argued that his late elder brother was just a scapegoat. He bemoaned how both the successive and present governments have continued to revel in painting him (Gen. Abacha) in a bad light, which is not unconnected to the fact that he is not alive to exonerate himself from the torrential allegations of stolen assets.

He lamented, “I have said to a few friends at the top, and those that know the truth that my brother is the scapegoat of the Nigerian leadership, in a bid to please foreign nations and their allies.

“Most of the monies you hear being sent back home are proceeds from his various business interest. Maybe, the questions should be, would all these be happening if he was alive and is Nigeria a better nation without him? How about other past presidents, especially after he died?” he queried.



More missing monies
Recall that Global Integrity Group, a transparency watchdog, once reported that $229 billion was fraudulently stashed away into foreign accounts by corrupt officials from 1999 to 2010. According to that report, Obasanjo’s reign witnessed the fastest rise of public office holders to overnight prosperity without any sign that the monies were acquired legitimately.

It is on record that the Jonathan-led administration has been rated as one of the most corrupt governments in Nigeria’s political history. Last year, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), accused the immediate past administration led by President Goodluck Jonathan of looting at least N11.11 trillion ($55.68 billion at N199.5 to a dollar) of public funds while in office. According to the party’s breakdown of the missing money, 160 million barrels of crude oil worth $13.9 billion (N2.74 trillion) were lost between 2009 and 2012 while $13 billion (N2.56tn) in the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG), dividends was mostly unaccounted for.

APC press statement read in part, “Some instances of the looting are as follows: N3.8 trillion out of the N8.1 trillion earned from crude oil (2012-2015) withheld by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); $2.1 billion (N413.7 billion) from Excess Crude Account unaccounted for; Department of Petroleum Resources’ unremitted N109.7 billion royalties from oil firms.

“Others are: $6 billion (N1.2tn) allegedly looted by some ministers of the last administration; 160 million barrels of crude oil worth $13.9 billion (N2.74 trillion) lost between 2009 and 2012; $15 million (N2.96 billion) from the botched arms deal yet to be returned to Nigeria; $13 billion (N2.56 trillion) in NLNG dividends mostly unaccounted for; N30 billion rice waiver; N183 billion unaccounted for at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).”

Also, making the rounds includes the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) fraud of N34.5 billion. $2.1 billion arms deal scandal; $470million (Closed Circuit Television System) CCTV project scam; the missing $20 billion NNPC money uncovered by the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, now the Emir of Kano, His Eminence, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and so on.

Accountability
Recently, a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that his government and the governments of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and Goodluck Jonathan account fully for all recovered loot.

The court explained that successive governments since the return of democracy in 1999 breached the fundamental principles of transparency and accountability for failing to disclose details about the spending of recovered stolen public funds.

The details ordered by the court to be disclosed include: information on the total amount of recovered stolen public assets by each government; the amount of recovered stolen public assets spent by each government as well as the objects of such spending and the projects on which such funds were spent.

Proceeds of Crime Bill (POCA), which was passed by the 7th National Assembly but did not receive President Goodluck Jonathan’s assent could toll the death knell for the long-reigning regime of re-looting the loot in Nigeria.

The Bill seeks to establish a central Agency to manage the proceeds recovered from convicted criminals. POCA Bill is focused on recovering illegally acquired property through forfeiture, confiscation or civil recovery and provides the powers to seize, freeze, and restrain criminals from dealing with their property.

If passed into law, it becomes easier for Nigerians to know how much loot the Federal Government has recovered and how they are utilized. There will be transparency and accountability in the assets recovery.