Attorney-General of the
Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) has explained
how the government of a foreign nation laid claim to hundreds of millions of
Dollars stashed abroad by the government of the late military ruler, Sani
Abacha.
According to him, the foreign
government told the court that it had an interest in the loot because it was
saved in its currency, the US dollar.
Malami made this assertion
yesterday in Lagos while participating in a seminar organized by the
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
The seminar with the theme:
“Promoting Transparency and Accountability in the Recovery of Stolen Assets in
Nigeria: Proposals for Reform”, was in collaboration with Ford Foundation, USA.
The AGF, who was represented by
his Senior Special Assistant on White Collar Crimes, Mr Abiodun Aikomo, also
condemned public officials who ferry their loot abroad.
“We have seen instances where the
Federal Government of Nigeria engaged counsel to recover our stolen assets and
the matter went on for many years,” he said.
“On the eve of a judgment on the
recovery of Abacha loot, the government of a country filed an application for
joinder, this was a matter that was on for seven years and judgment was going
to be delivered the next day.
“The government of the country
filed, saying ‘Even though the money is not kept in our bank, even though you
would think we do not have any connection with the funds, the money is in our
currency and we are talking about hundreds of millions in our currency. So, if
you’re moving those funds from our state, then we are interested.’
“That was how the judgment was
more or less arrested. So, the people stealing money and taking it out of
Nigeria are doing us a lot of evil, because the moment the money leaves Nigeria
it assumes another dimension,” he said.
But Buhari sometimes claimed that there was no Abacha loot. That Abacha did not loot the treasury. Then what Abacha loot is his government talking about again?
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