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Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. - Politics (14) - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. (97466 Views)

Poll: I now believe Abacha may have been honest and Obasanjo / IBB deliberately discredited Abacha's name, because:

His economic performance was on of best in Nigeria's history: 9% (1 vote)
PDP cronies - Abubakar Bagunu & Buba Marwa seem to be the people to link Abacha to the looted funds in Swiss banks appear to have been bribed by Obasanjo Govt to accuse Abacha: 9% (1 vote)
No witnesses appear to to give evidence against Abacha when Swiss lawyers came to Nigeria to collect evidence: 0% (0 votes)
Abdulsalami Abubakar /IBB/Obasanjo instigating a blind probe od=f Abacha and "discovering" billions of dollars in foreign accounts within days of Abacha's death prove they were out to discredit Abacha: 0% (0 votes)
None of above - I believe Abacha was a major looter: 81% (9 votes)
This poll has ended

Poll: Having read this thread, I believe that Abacha

May not have looted, his enemies bribed witnesses such as Abubakar Bagudu, claim that funds in foreign accounts belonged to Abacha: 9% (1 vote)
I believe Abacha was a big looter and I haveevidence other than the accusation that money "recovered" from Foreign banks belonged to him: 54% (6 votes)
I am not sure anymore: 36% (4 votes)
This poll has ended

How Sani Abacha Died…AL Mustapha. NOT BY APPLE / How Abacha Was Poisoned - Another Version / How Abacha Was Killed (2) (3) (4)

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Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 9:13am On May 27, 2012
Please tell me how the same Abacha who was universally praised for cleaning up the banking sector , could have stolen billions from the central bank ?
Does it make sense to you?

[size=18pt]20th January 1998 - BBC News
Abacha orders liquidation of 26 Banks in attempt to clean up banking sector[/size]

Nigeria's Central bank has liquidated 26 banks because of debts totalling nearly $400m. The banks had failed to meet a deadline which expired in December to recapitalise or face closure. The liquidation is part of a crackdown by the current military government on malpractices in the banking sector as Hilary Andersson reports from Lagos.

13 merchant banks and another 13 commercial banks have been liquidated after failing to meet the deadline to put their houses in order. First they were given until March last year to recapitalise, and later the deadline was extended to December.

They've been shut down with almost $400m in outstanding debts. The bank liquidator, the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation, has only got about half the funds necessary to pay back depositors, many of whom have almost given up hope of ever seeing their money again.

The liquidation of the 26 banks is part of a campaign started by the country's military leader, General Sani Abacha, four years ago when he came to power, to clean up the banking sector. He set up the Failed Banks Tribunal which last year investigated and imprisoned many bankers who could be seen, business suits and all, clustered in the squalid conditions of a Lagos detention centre. Some fled abroad to escape arrest.

The banking sector has long been riddled with fraud, with bankers lending themselves huge sums of money and using the banks as a private source of funds for their own business ventures.

Some banks were caught out when currency regulations suddenly changed meaning they could no longer buy currency at one rate and make huge profits by selling it off on the black market for another. Foreign and Nigerian bankers alike say that sanity has returned to the banking sector over the last year, and they give credit to the military government's draconian approach.

Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 11:28am On May 27, 2012
Transcript of Obasanjo's court case in UK

Can any lawyers make any sense of it?

http://www.icc-ccs.org/icc15//media/case_upload/United%20Kingdom%2018%20October%202001%20%5B2001%5D%20EWHC%20Admin%20787.pdf
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 11:40am On May 27, 2012
^^

So where is the clear cut judgement that Abacha had loot in foreign bank accounts??
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 11:06pm On May 30, 2012
http://www.mcswisslaw.com/pages_e/2008%20Monfrini%20-%20The%20Abacha%20Case.pdf

"
The existence of a system of confiscation orders that is independent
from a criminal conviction is therefore a necessity in grand corruption
cases. In this context, reversing the burden of proof or imposing
procedural consequences on the failure of the asset holder to cooperate
regarding the origin of the assets, appear to be best legislative
practice. The presumption of innocence does not necessarily apply to
confiscation proceedings and ‘presumptions of fact or of law operate
in every criminal-law system and are not prohibited in principle’ and
therefore do not breach the right to a fair trial.28"


[size=18pt]This is 21 page document but the above extract is very revealing indeed.

Basically, by qualifying Abacha's family members together with PDP stooges claiming to be Abacha's business associates as a 'Criminal Organisation', Nigeria Government does not need to prove that the funds in the foreign accounts belonged to Abacha, The Onus was on Abacha to proof that he was innocent of the charges.
Of course a deceased man could not do that.
Abacha's son Mohammed could not fully challenge the allegations as he was locked up by Obasanjo.[/size]
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 2:03pm On Jun 03, 2012
Nigerian who care about the truth can now see that they were deceived that Abacha had looted and that The Swiss Authorities and Foreign courts conspired with Obasanjo to dupe us into believing the lies against one of our best performing leaders.

God help us if this does not make the blood of all right thinking Nigerians boil!!

Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by pazienza(m): 4:31pm On Jun 03, 2012
This thread is an eye opener,i noticed how people who are not comfortable with truth ran away from it,nice job general buhari...,i have always wondered why the west was against abacha,they have this penchant of being against leaders who thinks well of Africa...

If Abacha was alive,he would have killed most of these so called intellectuals who are milking us dry today,of course,ignorant Nigerians would have resented him...

The truth is that under him,we were a stronger nation,we commanded more respect in military powess,economic stability and in sports, can we say the same of our present leaders?

It takes a strong independent leader to build a nation...

1 Like

Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 5:05pm On Jun 03, 2012
Thanks pazienza !

Don't forget to take the poll at the top of the page smiley
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by mensdept: 6:38pm On Jun 03, 2012
You can put lip stick on a pig, but it is still a pig.

Time to move on from these militarized monkeys and deal with the current crop of leaders that are continuing in the looting of our kids future
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 11:43pm On Jun 03, 2012
@ mens dept
What exactly are you talking about?

So the fact that one of our best leader was poisoned then unjustly and maliciously discredited by enemies of Nigeria who have since ruined Nigeria, does not bother you at all?

Na wa for you!!
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 7:51pm On Jun 05, 2012
http://www.mcswisslaw.com/pages_e/2008%20Monfrini%20-%20The%20Abacha%20Case.pdf


Culled from page 4 of 21 of above document.


[size=18pt]IV. The Nigerian investigation and criminal proceedings[/size]



Following the death of General Sani Abacha, newspaper articles reported
allegations of his plundering of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s
foreign reserves and the systematic corruption that prevailed during
his regime. The public began to demand that these allegations be investigated.
On 23 July 1998, the Abubakar Government set up a Special Investigation
Panel (SIP) with the task of investigating the looting and
corruption that took place during the Abacha Government. The Chairman
of the SIP was (and still is) Deputy Commissioner Peter Gana, of
the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigerian Police Force.
The SIP published a preliminary report in November 1998, which
focused on the crimes for which evidence could be found in Nigeria,
notably the systematic pillage of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The
report described the following modus operandi: General Sani Abacha
directed Ismaïla Gwarzo, his National Security Adviser, to present
him with false funding requests for security operations or equipment,
which he had the power to authorise. For the most part, the funds were
directly remitted in cash (USD 1,131 million and GBP 413 million) or
in travellers’ cheques (USD 50 million and GBP 3.5 million) by the
Central Bank of Nigeria to Ismaila Gwarzo, who then had most of the
funds taken to General Sani Abacha’s house. From there they were
taken by his oldest son, Mohammed Abacha, and laundered through
Nigerian banks or by Nigerian or foreign businessmen to offshore
accounts belonging to Mohammed Abacha, Abba Abacha, Abdulkadir
Abacha and Abubakar Bagudu. In a limited number of cases (thirtysix
transfers, totalling USD 386 million), the monies were transferred
directly from the Central Bank of Nigeria by wire to bank accounts
abroad, held by offshore companies belonging either to members of
the Abacha criminal organisation or to Nigerian or foreign businessmen,
who then remitted the same sums to members of the organisation.
At least USD 1,491 million and GBP 416 million had thus been
found by the SIP to have been embezzled by the Abacha criminal
organisation.
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 8:10pm On Jun 05, 2012
How did newspapers suddenly get information from nowhere that Abacha had looted the Central Bank, which seems to be all the excuse that the Abdulsalami Abubakar government needed to effectively commence a fake blind probe of one of best governments in Nigeria's history.

How can a Head of State with all the economic figures that showed that Abacha increased our foreign reserves by $9billiion over his 4.5 year rule , start investigation that Abacha plundered foreign reserves?


GenBuhari: http://www.mcswisslaw.com/pages_e/2008%20Monfrini%20-%20The%20Abacha%20Case.pdf


Culled from page 4 of 21 of above document.


[size=18pt]IV. The Nigerian investigation and criminal proceedings[/size]



Following the death of General Sani Abacha, newspaper articles reported allegations of his plundering of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s foreign reserves and the systematic corruption that prevailed during his regime. The public began to demand that these allegations be investigated.
On 23 July 1998, the Abubakar Government set up a Special Investigation Panel (SIP) with the task of investigating the looting and corruption that took place during the Abacha Government.

The Chairman of the SIP was (and still is) Deputy Commissioner Peter Gana, of the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigerian Police Force. The SIP published a preliminary report in November 1998, which focused on the crimes for which evidence could be found in Nigeria, notably the systematic pillage of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The report described the following modus operandi: General Sani Abacha directed Ismaïla Gwarzo, his National Security Adviser, to present him with false funding requests for security operations or equipment, which he had the power to authorise. For the most part, the funds were directly remitted in cash (USD 1,131 million and GBP 413 million) or in travellers’ cheques (USD 50 million and GBP 3.5 million) by the Central Bank of Nigeria to Ismaila Gwarzo, who then had most of the funds taken to General Sani Abacha’s house. From there they were taken by his oldest son, Mohammed Abacha, and laundered through Nigerian banks or by Nigerian or foreign businessmen to offshore accounts belonging to Mohammed Abacha, Abba Abacha, Abdulkadir Abacha and Abubakar Bagudu. In a limited number of cases (thirtysix transfers, totalling USD 386 million), the monies were transferred directly from the Central Bank of Nigeria by wire to bank accounts abroad, held by offshore companies belonging either to members of the Abacha criminal organisation or to Nigerian or foreign businessmen,who then remitted the same sums to members of the organisation.At least USD 1,491 million and GBP 416 million had thus been found by the SIP to have been embezzled by the Abacha criminal
organisation.
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 8:06pm On Jun 06, 2012
Consider the bolded block of text:

Now if Abacha was embezzling such huge funds, was he such a village iddiot to be carrying out the money in cash to his house?
Then he carried this same cash from his house to His son's house who then carried the cash back to other banks to send them abroad to foreign banks?

How credible is that?

Yet it says that in a small number of transactions the money was wired directly to bank accounts abroad direct from the CBN, if so why was logging huge sums cash around if he had a way to wire the money?

Does it add up to anybody because it doesn't add up to me

GenBuhari: http://www.mcswisslaw.com/pages_e/2008%20Monfrini%20-%20The%20Abacha%20Case.pdf

Culled from page 4 of 21 of above document.


[size=18pt]IV. The Nigerian investigation and criminal proceedings[/size]

The Chairman of the SIP was (and still is) Deputy Commissioner Peter Gana, of the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigerian Police Force. The SIP published a preliminary report in November 1998, which focused on the crimes for which evidence could be found in Nigeria, notably the systematic pillage of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The report described the following modus operandi: General Sani Abacha directed Ismaïla Gwarzo, his National Security Adviser, to present him with false funding requests for security operations or equipment, which he had the power to authorise. [b]For the most part, the funds were directly remitted in cash (USD 1,131 million and GBP 413 million) or in travellers’ cheques (USD 50 million and GBP 3.5 million) by the Central Bank of Nigeria to Ismaila Gwarzo, who then had most of the funds taken to General Sani Abacha’s house. From there they were taken by his oldest son, Mohammed Abacha, and laundered through Nigerian banks or by Nigerian or foreign businessmen to offshore accounts belonging to Mohammed Abacha, Abba Abacha, Abdulkadir Abacha and Abubakar Bagudu. In a limited number of cases (thirtysix transfers, totalling USD 386 million), the monies were transferred directly from the Central Bank of Nigeria by wire to bank accounts abroad, held by offshore companies belonging either to members of the Abacha criminal organisation or to Nigerian or foreign businessmen,who then remitted the same sums to members of the organisation.At least USD 1,491 million and GBP 416 million had thus been found by the SIP to have been embezzled by the Abacha criminal
organisation.[/b]
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 8:13pm On Jun 06, 2012
The reason Abacha was accused of carrying cash is because they could find no way producing fake evidence that he stole money.
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by OneNaira6: 8:17pm On Jun 06, 2012
The 6.18 billion naira Abacha loot both the British, france, etc returned back to Nigeria and even admitted the loot came from Abacha's family na who dash am? your papa dash eeh?

What of the 400 million naira still in process to return back to Nigeria was it your papa that dash am eeh?

Majority of us were raised during Abacha reign, we all remember life during that reign therefore stop trying to spin bullsh1t on our faces.

If this is actually the real Buhari posting, if you still dey wonder why people refuse to accept you as a leader, this threads is in high volume enough for you.
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 11:52pm On Jun 06, 2012
One naira,
I have answered all the questions you asked on this thread.

You have to open your mind up and free yourself from ignorance.

In short all the allegations that are written about Abacha looting was simply Obasanjo feeding the press with malicious lies in order to discredit Abacha.

If you have any sense, do some research about economic performance of Abacha and comapare it to those of all the subsequent governments after his murder.


Please take time read this thread before commenting any further.
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 12:33am On Jun 09, 2012
When Obasanjo became president in 1999, he claimed Abacha had stolen $6billion, where did he get such an over- inflated figure after 13 years of court cases and fake recoveries of money that was never stolen by Abacha in the first place, the most money he "recovered" from a foreign banks was only half of a billion Dollars. The huge disparity alone should discredit the allegation that Abacha looted at all.
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 1:30pm On Jun 11, 2012
The truth is slowly emerging.

When Nigeria finally gets a proper government, all the deception of the current and previous governments would be revealed.

God willing Nigeria will get a proper government again in my lifetime.
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 2:37am On Jun 13, 2012
[size=18pt]Abacha: British Politician Mackie Sheik praises Abacha![/size]

Written by Abubakar Sani Maigana Friday, 13 November 2009 23:41

What we don’t understand, we tend to hate and that has often been the major flaw in most human judgments of others. Indeed, prejudice is frequently fed by ignorance which itself infects human judgments. The late Nigerian military ruler, General Sani Abacha is no doubt one of the most well-meaning but misunderstood world leaders whose significant contributions were buried in the rubbles of prejudice.

It is, however, not easy to suppress reality for too long. A recent international event in London had positively resurrected Abacha’s memory. The 11th Gathering of Africa’s Best awards (GAB) afforded one of the recipients, a British politician, Mr Mackie Sheik, the opportunity to re-evaluate Abacha’s contributions to African stability and peace.

According to Sheik, “Abacha may be evil in Nigeria but in Sierra Leone, he is a hero, almost a saint …” The former Deputy Mayor of London noted that Abacha’s timely intervention had saved Sierra Leone from total disintegration after anarchists led by the late Fodeh Sankoh of the disbanded United Revolutionary Front attempted to destroy the country’s democratic progress. In fact, the rebels were chopping off the hands of innocent citizens to prevent them from voting and forced civilians to enlist into their criminal movement.

Until now, few public figures had the courage to openly appreciate Abacha’s positive legacies. The RUF rebels were a collection of drug addicts that were bent on destroying one of Africa’s oldest surviving democracies. Freedom of choice didn’t matter to them; instead, they believed in the barrel of the gun to bend Sierra Leoneans to their will. Instability produces contagious effects and Abacha had the sagacity to move into the country to save the poor country from disintegration and anarchy.

Although his critics at home pooh-poohed his dramatic intervention, the passage of time has justified the wisdom of Abacha’s military assistance to rescue Sierra Leone from instability. Sierra Leone was once regarded as one of Africa’s stable states, especially under the late Siaka Stevens. But nobody probably ever imagined that the country could find itself at the mercy of psychopathic rebels inspired by blind loyalty to a blood-thirty leader, the late Fodeh Sankoh, who became an obstacle to peace.

Blinkered by prejudice, Abacha’s critics were not ready to accept that even the so-called devil had his positive side. In neighbouring Liberia, for example, Abacha was able to restore the credibility of Nigeria’s intervention through the ECOWAS Peacekeeping Force, mainly made up of Nigerian contingent. Until Abacha’s intervention, Liberians largely believed that Nigeria was in their country to support the late Samuel Doe to hold onto power.

However, when the Abacha administration took over, it quickly re-defined Nigeria’s objective in the then war-torn Liberia. His government maintained credible neutrality, which enabled all the warring factions to freely participate in the democratic process of producing their own government. A faction led by a former Liberian rebel honcho, Mr Charles Taylor (who later became a President and now a war crime suspect), was targeting Nigerians for attacks because they believed we went into their country to help the late Master Sergeant Samuel Doe to remain in power at all cost.

In fact, three Nigerian journalists were killed by Taylor’s faction because of their hatred toward the former Babangida administration. However, Abacha’s policy of neutrality ultimately led to the emergence of democratic process in which Liberians chose their own president and other political leaders.

Therefore, Sierra Leone was not the only country where the late Abacha demonstrated genuine commitment to African stability and peace. He was also able to ginger Africans to assert their sovereignty in international affairs. He was the first African Head of State to break the 10-year air embargo imposed on Libya over the 1989 Lockerbie terrorist-related air disaster. Many African leaders privately believed the embargo was too harsh but were afraid to voice their protest until Abacha gave them the courage to do so.

Contrary to the suggestion of other critics, not all Nigerians believed Abacha was a devil at home. Eleven years after his death, his performance record in office has exceeded the expectations of even his worst enemies. Within five years, Abacha was able to contain inflation, stabilise the naira, control insecurity and improve the standard of infrastructure and other vital social services despite the fact that the foreign reserve level under his administration was about 10 billion dollars.

However, with 68 billion dollars in its coffers in addition to 18 billion dollars debt relief, the former Obasanjo administration which was the harshest critic of Abacha failed to deliver despite the enormous good luck and goodwill at its disposal. The former London Deputy Mayor, Mackie Sheik, is not alone in re-evaluating Abacha more objectively. With the worsening state of infrastructure under Obasanjo, rising unemployment, insecurity, poverty, hunger and disease, do Abacha’s detractors have any moral basis to demonise his memory or his record? Thank God that with the passage of time, more and more people are seeing his positive side, including foreign public figures. Abacha is not only Sierra Leonean’s hero, but also of millions of Nigerians who appreciate his remarkable performance record.

Maigana wrote from Gen. Hassan Katsina Road, Anguwar Rimi, Kaduna.

http://weeklytrust.com.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1671:abacha-from-odium-to-accolade&catid=1:comments&Itemid=164

Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 3:07am On Jun 13, 2012
[size=18pt]Daily Trust (Abuja)OPINION12 November 2008
Obasanjo who falsely accused Abacha of corruption has proven much worst[/size]

While the railway transportation system is undergoing rapid modernisation in Europe and Asia, Nigerian leaders are taking many steps backward to kill the railway rehabilitation projects initiated by the late General Sani Abacha administration.

These evil and short-sighted efforts started with the former Obasanjo administration which was determined to destroy anything good initiated by the Abacha regime. Blinded and consumed by the passion for vengeance against the late Abacha, former President Olusegun Obasanjo didn't mind throwing away the baby with the bath water. One of the major projects embarked upon by the Abacha regime was the rehabilitation of Nigeria's moribund and outmoded railway system. The late military ruler invited the Chinese Civil Engineering Company to undertake the projects because of its proven expertise in that field.

In a matter of months, the Nigerian railway system was coming back to life at a time almost all Nigerians had concluded that this mode of transportation was dead. The projects got off to a flying start until the election of Obasanjo in 1999 who decided to suspend the railway rehabilitation initiated by the late Abacha. His private grudges became the basis of official policy and that was how he halted the railway rehabilitation projects started by the Abacha regime.

Typical of Obasanjo, he saw nothing good in whatever the late Abacha ever did for Nigeria and did not disguise his intention to stop the railway projects out of irrational personal malice. It didn't matter to Obasanjo that Nigeria stood to lose by stopping the railway projects, a mode of transportation which is cheaper and affordable by most ordinary Nigerians. Former President Obasanjo was always convinced that corruption attended any contract initiated by the late Abacha. Using this pretext, therefore, he halted the projects at the expense of the nation.

With time, however, Obasanjo's hypocrisy and evil motives were revealed when he re-awarded the railway rehabilitation projects at a much higher staggering cost than commonsense can accept. The late General Sani Abacha regime awarded the railway contracts at less than $600 million. But towards the end of his tenure, in his desperation to leave a legacy behind, former President Obasanjo re-awarded the same contract at $8 billion (N960 billion).

Despite the breathtaking cost of the re-awarded contracts, the railway projects got nowhere under Obasanjo. President Umaru Musa Yar'adua inherited the projects but became suspicious about the new cost of the contract. He set up a committee to re-evaluate the project and its report indicted the former Obasanjo administration for inflating the contracts to outrageous levels. Consequently, the Yar'adua administration has finally suspended the N960 billion railway contracts.

No one should blame President Yar'adua for the fate that ultimately befell the railway contracts. Former President Obasanjo should be held solely responsible for the apparent death of the projects. He sacrificed the larger public interest to satisfy private motives. With General Abacha, Nigerians witnessed the promising progress that the railway projects were making until Obasanjo came and killed them for selfish reasons.

General Abacha awarded the projects at just $600 million and the railway system in Nigeria had started to take a new shape across the country. But even as he re-awarded the contracts at N960 billion, former President Obasanjo didn't show any progress in the execution of the projects. This figure is staggering by any stretch of the imagination and Nigerians cannot understand why despite this inflation of contract, the Obasanjo administration failed to carry the railway projects forward.

Does former President Obasanjo have any reason to accuse the late General Abacha administration of greed and corruption? Didn't his administration commit billions of public funds into projects that were never executed? The 16-billion-dollar power contracts scandal will remain a stubborn stigma on the Obasanjo administration and children yet unborn will never forgive such level of greed against the nation. How can any administration commit N960 billion in the name of railway rehabilitation and fail to produce results at the end of the day?

Former President Obasanjo had systematically killed many good projects started by the late General Abacha such as the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), the dredging of the River Niger and the railway rehabilitation projects. Ironically, while he was busy killing good projects initiated by Abacha out of malicious motives, Obasanjo had failed to deliver on many projects which he himself introduced.

Despite investing 16 billion dollars into improving electric power generation in the country, the expenditure went down the drain and eight years after he reluctantly left office, power supply got worse than it was in 1999 when he took over power. In fact, every evil that Obasanjo ever preached against became worse under his administration. Corruption grew like weed during his tenure and Nigeria won the unenviable distinction of ranking among the most corrupt nations of the world.

General Obasanjo is the most self-righteous dictator that Nigerians have ever known. But hypocrisy has shorts legs; it cannot ran fast and far without falling by the wayside. Despite the wicked attempts to vilify and demonise his memory, General Sani Abacha's record of performance was by far more credible and unassailable than Obasanjo's. Though he received the biggest oil revenue than any previous administrations, former President Obasanjo's performance was below average.
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by 0K2NV: 3:10am On Jun 13, 2012
[size=30pt]WHEN WILL YOU STOP THIS SH1T? FIRST YOU GO BY THE NAME OF AN EX MILITARY HEAD OF STATE. NOW YOU OPEN THIS FULL FLEDGED EFFRONTERY OF PURE BIASED LUST FOR ABACHA.
DO YOU THINK WE ARE ALL F00LS?
THIS IS HOW YOUR ABOKIS GO ABOUT DISTORTING FACTS TO MEET YOUR DAMNED FRUSTRATED POLITICAL AMBITIONS.
GET THE DEAD DICTATORS D1CK OUTTA UR MOUTH FOR GOD'S SAKE.
[/size]
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by 0K2NV: 3:11am On Jun 13, 2012
GenBuhari: [size=18pt]Daily Trust (Abuja)OPINION12 November 2008
[s]Obasanjo who falsely accused Abacha of corruption has proven much worst[/size]

While the railway transportation system is undergoing rapid modernisation in Europe and Asia, Nigerian leaders are taking many steps backward to kill the railway rehabilitation projects initiated by the late General Sani Abacha administration.

These evil and short-sighted efforts started with the former Obasanjo administration which was determined to destroy anything good initiated by the Abacha regime. Blinded and consumed by the passion for vengeance against the late Abacha, former President Olusegun Obasanjo didn't mind throwing away the baby with the bath water. One of the major projects embarked upon by the Abacha regime was the rehabilitation of Nigeria's moribund and outmoded railway system. The late military ruler invited the Chinese Civil Engineering Company to undertake the projects because of its proven expertise in that field.

In a matter of months, the Nigerian railway system was coming back to life at a time almost all Nigerians had concluded that this mode of transportation was dead. The projects got off to a flying start until the election of Obasanjo in 1999 who decided to suspend the railway rehabilitation initiated by the late Abacha. His private grudges became the basis of official policy and that was how he halted the railway rehabilitation projects started by the Abacha regime.

Typical of Obasanjo, he saw nothing good in whatever the late Abacha ever did for Nigeria and did not disguise his intention to stop the railway projects out of irrational personal malice. It didn't matter to Obasanjo that Nigeria stood to lose by stopping the railway projects, a mode of transportation which is cheaper and affordable by most ordinary Nigerians. Former President Obasanjo was always convinced that corruption attended any contract initiated by the late Abacha. Using this pretext, therefore, he halted the projects at the expense of the nation.

With time, however, Obasanjo's hypocrisy and evil motives were revealed when he re-awarded the railway rehabilitation projects at a much higher staggering cost than commonsense can accept. The late General Sani Abacha regime awarded the railway contracts at less than $600 million. But towards the end of his tenure, in his desperation to leave a legacy behind, former President Obasanjo re-awarded the same contract at $8 billion (N960 billion).

Despite the breathtaking cost of the re-awarded contracts, the railway projects got nowhere under Obasanjo. President Umaru Musa Yar'adua inherited the projects but became suspicious about the new cost of the contract. He set up a committee to re-evaluate the project and its report indicted the former Obasanjo administration for inflating the contracts to outrageous levels. Consequently, the Yar'adua administration has finally suspended the N960 billion railway contracts.

No one should blame President Yar'adua for the fate that ultimately befell the railway contracts. Former President Obasanjo should be held solely responsible for the apparent death of the projects. He sacrificed the larger public interest to satisfy private motives. With General Abacha, Nigerians witnessed the promising progress that the railway projects were making until Obasanjo came and killed them for selfish reasons.

General Abacha awarded the projects at just $600 million and the railway system in Nigeria had started to take a new shape across the country. But even as he re-awarded the contracts at N960 billion, former President Obasanjo didn't show any progress in the execution of the projects. This figure is staggering by any stretch of the imagination and Nigerians cannot understand why despite this inflation of contract, the Obasanjo administration failed to carry the railway projects forward.

Does former President Obasanjo have any reason to accuse the late General Abacha administration of greed and corruption? Didn't his administration commit billions of public funds into projects that were never executed? The 16-billion-dollar power contracts scandal will remain a stubborn stigma on the Obasanjo administration and children yet unborn will never forgive such level of greed against the nation. How can any administration commit N960 billion in the name of railway rehabilitation and fail to produce results at the end of the day?

Former President Obasanjo had systematically killed many good projects started by the late General Abacha such as the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), the dredging of the River Niger and the railway rehabilitation projects. Ironically, while he was busy killing good projects initiated by Abacha out of malicious motives, Obasanjo had failed to deliver on many projects which he himself introduced.

Despite investing 16 billion dollars into improving electric power generation in the country, the expenditure went down the drain and eight years after he reluctantly left office, power supply got worse than it was in 1999 when he took over power. In fact, every evil that Obasanjo ever preached against became worse under his administration. Corruption grew like weed during his tenure and Nigeria won the unenviable distinction of ranking among the most corrupt nations of the world.

General Obasanjo is the most self-righteous dictator that Nigerians have ever known. But hypocrisy has shorts legs; it cannot ran fast and far without falling by the wayside. Despite the wicked attempts to vilify and demonise his memory, General Sani Abacha's record of performance was by far more credible and unassailable than Obasanjo's. Though he received the biggest oil revenue than any previous administrations, former President Obasanjo's performance was below average.[/s]
rubbish
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by 0K2NV: 3:12am On Jun 13, 2012
and where did Abacha family members get all that money they get to spray around?
don't tell me , it's all from his hard earned saved salaries and military pensions.]\
goat!
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by 0K2NV: 3:17am On Jun 13, 2012
Abacha was a criminal in Government house just like his predecessor, IBB, Buhari.
No matter how you want to paint it, you can never ever f00l me.
Take your sh1tty thread and stuff it where you always wanted your d1ctators to reign.
Goat!
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 8:32pm On Jun 13, 2012
[size=18pt]
IV. The Nigerian investigation and criminal proceedings (continued -part2)[/size]


At least USD 1,491 million and GBP 416 million had thus been
found by the SIP to have been embezzled by the Abacha criminal
organisation.
[b]During the first stages of the SIP investigation, a large quantity of
assets and cash was seized in Nigeria or returned to the Nigerian authorities.
Other illegally acquired assets were also identified.
In order to give a legal basis to the forfeiture of these assets,
among the final acts of his mandate, General Abdulsalami Abubakar
issued the Forfeiture of Assets, Etc (certain Persons) Decree No. 53 of
26 May 1999.
This decree ordered the return to the Federal Republic of Nigeria
of real property and movable assets, as well as cash, that had been
acquired and held illegally by General Sani Abacha, certain members
of his government (notably Ismaila Gwarzo, National Security Adviser,
Anthony A. Ani, Minister of Finance and Bashir Dalhatu, Minister
of Power and Steel), certain members of his family (notably Mohammed
Sani Abacha, General Sani Abacha’s eldest son and the
latter’s brother, Abdulkadir Abacha), and other third parties
(Abubakar Bagudu and Abdulazeez Arisekola Alao).
More than USD 800 million was thus returned to Nigeria as a result
of this measure, of which USD 635 million and GBP 75 million
by Mohammed Abacha, Abba Abacha and Abubakar Bagudu.[/b]

Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 8:44pm On Jun 13, 2012
^^Notice how whatever action the claim that Mohammed Abacha took during the investigations, he always seemss to be doing it with the PDP crony Abubakar Bagudu.


What you can be sure of , is that it is the PDP crony doing the action, so because he was posing as Abacha's business partner, his actions are attributed to Mohammaed Abacha or the Abacha family.


So if Bagudu claims he has $800m in cash that he would return to the FG, it is reported that the Abacha family has returned $800m.



Are you getting the gist?
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 8:49pm On Jun 13, 2012
IV. The Nigerian investigation and criminal proceedings (continued -part3)


These restitutions have no bearing whatsoever on the criminal liability
of the authors of the offences. Decree No. 53 of 26 May 1999
did not put an end to the police investigation, which has continued and
unearthed additional evidence, allowing the Nigerian investigators to
identify other criminal offences and their beneficiaries, as well as obtain
additional returns of funds.[size=18pt] However, no evidence whatsoever of corruption could be found in Nigeria[/size], although it was well known that General Sani Abacha, in exchange for granting his approval for contracts of over USD 50,000, was taking bribes, representing up to forty per cent of the contract price. This proved to be due to the fact that all corrupt payments were made from offshore bank accounts of the contractors to offshore bank accounts of members of the Abacha criminal organisation.
On 23 December 1998, a Letter Rogatory was sent to Switzerland and Belgium based on the evidence obtained by the SIP. There was no
response.





[size=28pt]^^ The bolded above is shocking!!!![/size]



No evidence of corruption could be found in Nigeria , so the court resorts to hearsay? that Abacha took bribes for approving contracts? How credible that Abacha would be touting for bribes in the same way as a corrupt council worker?

Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 8:56pm On Jun 13, 2012
GenBuhari: [size=18pt]
IV. The Nigerian investigation and criminal proceedings (continued -part3)
[/size]


These restitutions have no bearing whatsoever on the criminal liability
of the authors of the offences. Decree No. 53 of 26 May 1999
did not put an end to the police investigation, which has continued and
unearthed additional evidence, allowing the Nigerian investigators to
identify other criminal offences and their beneficiaries, as well as obtain
additional returns of funds. However, no evidence whatsoever of
corruption could be found in Nigeria, although it was well known that
General Sani Abacha, in exchange for granting his approval for contracts
of over USD 50,000, was taking bribes, representing up to forty
per cent of the contract price.
This proved to be due to the fact that all
corrupt payments were made from offshore bank accounts of the contractors
to offshore bank accounts of members of the Abacha criminal
organisation.
On 23 December 1998, a Letter Rogatory was sent to Switzerland
and Belgium based on the evidence obtained by the SIP. There was no
response.
On 18 September 2000, on the basis of evidence gathered in Nigeria,
the Attorney-General of Nigeria filed 115 counts of charges of
receiving stolen property (Article 317 and 319 Penal Code Law) at the
High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, against Mohammed
Sani Abacha and Abubakar Bagudu. On 22 February 2001, the
Attorney-General of Nigeria filed sixty-eight counts of additional
charges at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja,
against Mohammed Abacha and Abba Abacha, the two oldest surviving
sons of the late General Sani Abacha.
The Nigerian criminal proceedings are currently stalled by objections
and appeals lodged by Mohammed Abacha. In an 18 April 2005
ruling, the Abuja Court of Appeal found that Mohamed Abacha could
not claim any immunity from prosecution based on Decree No. 53 of
26 May 1999, nor on the basis of ‘sovereign immunity’ that his father
allegedly enjoyed. An appeal is still pending before the Supreme
Court of Nigeria.





[size=28pt]^^ The bolded above is shocking!!!![/size]



No evidence of corruption could be found in Nigeria , so the court resorts to hearsay? that Abacha took bribes for approving contracts? How credible that Abacha would be touting for bribes in the same way as a corrupt council worker?


Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by manuch(m): 9:54pm On Jun 13, 2012
I think you are on the payroll of abacha family. rubbish
Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 1:53am On Jun 14, 2012
^ Clearly you have not even bothered to look at the evidence.

Sadly you are a classic case of a person choosing to remain ignorant.

What a pity!

Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 6:51am On Jun 14, 2012
Does this not prrof beyond any doubt that Abacha is innocent given that transitional military ruler Abudulsalami Abubakar, had claimed that Abacha family had willingling returned $800million in cash!!

What a country!! and our press /jounalists never queried such a ridicoulous claim undecided

GenBuhari:
IV. The Nigerian investigation and criminal proceedings (continued -part3)


These restitutions have no bearing whatsoever on the criminal liability
of the authors of the offences. Decree No. 53 of 26 May 1999
did not put an end to the police investigation, which has continued and
unearthed additional evidence, allowing the Nigerian investigators to
identify other criminal offences and their beneficiaries, as well as obtain
additional returns of funds. [size=23pt]However, no evidence whatsoever of
corruption could be found in Nigeria[/size], although it was well known that
General Sani Abacha, in exchange for granting his approval for contracts
of over USD 50,000, was taking bribes, representing up to forty
per cent of the contract price.
This proved to be due to the fact that all
corrupt payments were made from offshore bank accounts of the contractors
to offshore bank accounts of members of the Abacha criminal
organisation.
On 23 December 1998, a Letter Rogatory was sent to Switzerland
and Belgium based on the evidence obtained by the SIP. There was no
response.
On 18 September 2000, on the basis of evidence gathered in Nigeria,
the Attorney-General of Nigeria filed 115 counts of charges of
receiving stolen property (Article 317 and 319 Penal Code Law) at the
High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, against Mohammed
Sani Abacha and Abubakar Bagudu. On 22 February 2001, the
Attorney-General of Nigeria filed sixty-eight counts of additional
charges at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja,
against Mohammed Abacha and Abba Abacha, the two oldest surviving
sons of the late General Sani Abacha.
The Nigerian criminal proceedings are currently stalled by objections
and appeals lodged by Mohammed Abacha. In an 18 April 2005
ruling, the Abuja Court of Appeal found that Mohamed Abacha could
not claim any immunity from prosecution based on Decree No. 53 of
26 May 1999, nor on the basis of ‘sovereign immunity’ that his father
allegedly enjoyed. An appeal is still pending before the Supreme
Court of Nigeria.





[size=28pt]^^ The bolded above is shocking!!!![/size]



No evidence of corruption could be found in Nigeria , so the court resorts to hearsay? that Abacha took bribes for approving contracts? How credible that Abacha would be touting for bribes in the same way as a corrupt council worker?


Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 6:53am On Jun 14, 2012
GenBuhari: Does this not prove beyond any doubt that Abacha is innocent given that transitional military ruler Abudulsalami Abubakar, had claimed that Abacha family had willingling returned $800million in cash!!

What a country!! and our press /jounalists never queried such a ridicoulous claim undecided

Re: Sani Abacha was honest & one of Nigeria's best ever leaders. by Nobody: 10:12pm On Jun 23, 2012
[size=18pt]Belgore committee revisits Abacha draft constitution •Supports rotational presidency, 5-year single tenure[/size]

Written by Olawale Rasheed and Ayodele Adesanmi, Abuja Thursday, 19 April 2012


SEVERAL provisions of the 1995 draft constitution prepared under the late General Sani Abacha may have resurfaced as the 21-member Presidential Committee on the Review of Outstanding Constitutional Issues under Justice Salisu Alfa Belgore is reported to be revisiting the document.

Nigerian Tribune reliably gathered from the committee that the 1995 draft constitution, which was dumped on the advice of the Justice Niki Tobi Committee set up by the government of General Abdulsalami Abubakar, was revived because it addressed most challenges facing the nation now.

The 1995 draft constitution was a product of the 1994-1995 National Constitutional Conference attended by key political figures in the country but boycotted by the South-West geopolitical zone due to the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

Insiders close to the workings of the committee told the Nigerian Tribune that while all other previous constitutional reports are being reviewed, “many provisions of the Abacha constitution are being lifted directly as they appear very relevant to issues on the ground now.”

Provisions reportedly being lifted include the endorsement of rotational presidency with clear provisions that the offices of the president of the country should rotate among the six geopolitical zones, which are also being recognised as units in the proposed amendments. The rotational principle is also proposed to be extended to the states and local governments.

Alongside the rotational principle is the provision for a five-year single tenure for president, governors and local government chairmen with a related provision that bars whoever had been elected to such office at an immediately preceding election.

Other provisions being lifted, according to the source, include provisions for multiple vice-presidency with one of the vice-presidents expected to come from the zone of the president to serve as a replacement in case of sudden death or incapacitation of the president.

Another version of the Abacha draft said to be under consideration is as follows “Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) of this section, if any vacancy occurs by reason of the death or resignation or the removal of the president from office (impeachment) in accordance with section 144, 145 or 340 of this constitution, the vice-president shall hold the office of president for the period of not more than three months, during which there shall be an election of a new president from the same zone, who shall hold office for the unexpired term of office of the last holder of the office."

The committee is also said to be fascinated by the Abacha draft provisions on resolving the winner takes all syndrome in the electoral process with the introduction of proportional representation in the composition of the federal and state executive councils.

The said provision is as follows: ``Any political party which wins not less than 10 per cent of the total number of seats in the National Assembly or of the total number of votes cast at the election, shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (7) of this section, be entitled to representation in the Federal Executive Council in proportion to the number of seats won by the party in the National Assembly."

Other provisions on the table from the Abacha draft include recognition of constitutional court, recognition and possible transformation of the six geopolitical zones into regions, whittling down of Federal Government’s dominance through the creation of state legislative list and others.

A member of the committee, who was contacted, however, declined to comment on the reports, explaining instead, that only the committee chairman, Justice Belgore is mandated to talk to the press after the conclusion of its assignment.

President Jonathan had, while inaugurating the committee on July 22, 2011, charged it to take a special look at the political and constitution review conferences, judicial reform efforts, charter on human and people’s rights, environment and natural resources, local government joint accounts and revenue sharing formula of the country.

He said: “I am inaugurating this committee to develop draft bills on previously agreed issues that would go a long way to strengthen the bonds of our union. These settled issues include strong recommendations from past constitutional and political reform conferences; on national security, human rights and social security, people’s charter and social obligations; environment and natural resources, models and structure of government, public service, power sharing, local government reforms and the economy.

“In that regard, the task of this committee is to study and deliberate on the resolutions, recommendations and implementation guidelines of the last National Political Reform Conference; as well as any relevant aspects of the 1994/95 Constitutional Conference,” the president had said.

Members of the committee are Belgore, Senator Udo Udoma, vice-chairman; Chief Ebenezer Babatope; Mr Ledum Mitee; Dr Abubakar Saddique; Ms Comfort Obi; Mr Peter Esele; Professor Oladapo Afolabi; Professor Jerry Gana and Tessy Ikimi.

Others are Mr G.O.S. Miri; Ambassador Babagana Kingibe; Ambassador Jibrin Chinade; Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha; Professor Anya O. Anya; Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife; Alhaja Salimot Badru; Hajia Najatu Mohammed; Mr Ferdinand Agu; Alhaji Wakil Mohammed and Halima Alfa.

Meanwhile, barring any unforeseen circumstance, the Senate will, in July 2013, conclude the fourth amendment and review of the 1999 Constitution.

The Deputy Senate President and chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution, Senator Ike Ekwere-madu, also informed that the committee held its maiden meeting on Wed-nesday and agreed to streamline the areas that needed amendments.

Ekweremadu told newsmen that the amount allocated to the committee could not be ascertained, saying that the National Assembly received its allocation on first line charge in lump sum.

He assured that after the budget analysis, the amount allocated would be made known, adding that the Senate committee and that of the House of Representatives would work together to expedite action on the exercise.

“We will articulate what we consider the burning issues that will help to make our democracy workable and put our country on the part of political progress. We are going to make allowance for the input of the executive. You are aware that that they have set up this Belgore committee. We hope that shortly, they are going to send whatever their recommendations are,” he said.

It was gathered that most of the issues that would top the amendment agenda would include fiscal federalism, state creation, state police, local government system, devolution of powers, revenue allocation, state INEC and a uniform minimum wage.

The committee chairman, however, said all comments he made before were his personal opinion, adding that he would, henceforth, be speaking on the exercise on behalf of the Senate and the committee.

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