Nigeria: Probe Abacha Loot, Halliburton Compensation, SERAP Tells Buhari

By Nicholas Ibekwe
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project on Monday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the role of the World Bank in the management of the monies stolen by late Nigerian dictator, Sani Abacha.
The call is part of the recommendations contained in a new report published by SERAP titled: "Deterring Kleptomaniac: Finding Nigeria's Re-stolen Billions and Repatriating Looted Assets", launched in Lagos on Monday.


SERAP asked the president to "thoroughly investigate the role of the World Bank in the repatriation and management and spending of the funds stolen by late dictator, Sani Abacha and other similar repatriated funds recovered from corrupt ex-officials".
The group said Mr. Buhari should revisit the agreement reached by the immediate past administration and the Abacha family for the repatriation of some of the funds stolen by the late military ruler, as well as other similar agreements reached by previous governments with corrupt ex-officials for the recovery of the funds they stole.
"The World Bank should publicly disclose its involvement in any other ongoing repatriation initiative to Nigeria, and the mechanisms it is putting in place to ensure transparency and accountability of such mechanisms and the judicious use of repatriated funds," the report said.
SERAP asked Mr. Buhari's government to "revisit and challenge in court unfair settlement in bribery cases by successive governments and repatriation agreement between the government of Goodluck Jonathan and the family of the late General Sani Abacha dates 14th July 2014 and other similar dodgy and unfair agreement with a view to getting better deals, receiving damages/compensations from companies such as Halliburton, and achieving justice for the Nigerian people," the report reads.
SERAP also called on the World Bank to disclose the extent of its involvement in the repatriation of these funds and role in the management and spending of the funds.
"The World bank should publicly disclose its involvement in any other ongoing repatriation initiatives to Nigeria, and the mechanisms it is putting in place to ensure transparency and accountability of such mechanisms and the judicious use of repatriated funds."
According to the 37-page report, more than $3 billion recovered from Abacha; $87 million recovered from former Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, and over $20 million stolen funds recovered from former governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, may have disappeared without a trace.

Similarly, the report also questioned the whereabouts of several other repatriated and stolen funds recovered locally from corrupt ex-officials such as the $1 billion from the Swiss government mutual legal assistance, $8billion recovered by the General Abubakar-led domestic recovery in 1999, $233,795,000 refunded by the Principalities of Liechtenstein in June 2014, and $194.5 million Ajaokuta Steel Plant debt buy-back case, are still unknown.
Other similar funds unaccounted for are $160 million recovered by Jersey Global Asset for Nigeria in 2003 and $36 million recovered in Jersey from Raj Bhojwani, the convicted former associate of Mr Abacha, are still unknown.
"President Buhari should make sure that never again will the prerogative of mercy be used to save corrupt officials and grant impunity for corruption as it was done by the former President Goodluck Jonathan with respect to corruption cases against Diepreye Alamieyeseigha."
"The constitution imposes some ethical conditions on the president to ensure that the exercise of the discretionary power of prerogative of mercy is not such that it will encourage corruption or provide an escape route for perpetrators," he said.
The report particularly flayed the immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan, for allegedly scuttling the asset recovery processes put in place by his predecessors. It stated that Mr. Jonathan cancelled all civil litigation against the Abacha family and granted state pardoned to Mr. Alamieyeseigha.
The report recommended that government should "consistently utilise the crime of illicit enrichment (also called: unexplained wealth or inexplicable wealth or disproportionate wealth) to facilitate recovery of stolen assets by high-ranking officials."
"The illicit enrichment offence criminalises the unexplained increase in the wealth of a public official while in office. It targets a significant increase in the assets of a public official that he or she cannot reasonably explained in relation to his or her lawful income, essentially deeming a public official's unexplained accumulation of significant capital to be a form of corruption, the report says.
SERAP further recommended that the government should "improve and vigorously enforce laws on financial discourse to require government officials to annually disclose and widely publish information about their income, assets, liabilities and positions held outside public office."
It also recommended that a Looted Asset Fund should be set up in the Presidency and Ministry of Finance to provide a framework that would allow the appropriate and transparent, management of the proceed of corruption recovered by the government.