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Okonjo Iweala gives accounts of Abacha's loot

Published

11 years ago

February 27, 2014

The minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister for the
Economy and , Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala , said yesterday that the
$ 500 million recovered Abacha loot was used to develop the nation’s
rural areas.
The minister was reacting to an article by Mr. Sonala Olumhense
who claimed that $2.5 billion was recovered from the funds looted by
the then maximum ruler, Gen. Sani Abacha but that the money
disappeared under the minister’s watch.
According to the minister, $ 500 million, not $2.5 billion was
recovered and had been spent development projects in rural areas as
agreed with the Swiss government.
A statement by Mr. Paul Nwabikwu, Special Adviser to the
minister said that the claims by Mr. Olumhense were unverified and
largely false.
“The problem I have with Mr Sonala Olumhense’s articles on the
Coordinating Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo
Iweala is the general absence of verified facts and the basing of
opinions on gross inaccuracies.
“For instance, Mr Olumhense writes that $2.5 billion of Abacha
money was recovered during Dr Okonjo Iweala’s time as Finance
Minister under President Obasanjo and that the money disappeared
implying some involvement in the disappearance by the Minister. This
is absolutely false. First, the amount recovered was $500 million, not
$2.5 billion.
“The recovered amount was channeled into rural projects and
programmes as per the agreement with the Swiss government which
repatriated the funds. A combined team of Nigerian and Swiss
NGOs with the World Bank later verified the use of this money on
the ground in the projects cited and they certified the money had been
accurately utilized.
“The World Bank had written about this in a 2007 2008 Handbook
on stolen Asset Recovery where the case was cited as a best practice
example of how to deploy returned proceeds of looted assets. Readers
of Mr Olumhense would benefit more if his passionate writings on Dr
Okono Iweala are supported by a bit more research as opposed to
sweeping, unverified statements”, the statement read in part.
On the NNPC oil accounts issue, Mr. Nwabuikwu said that the
minister has been at the forefront of the anti corruption crusade and
had called for an independent forensic audit to establish the facts of
any unaccounted for money and ensure that all every Naira owed the
treasury was returned to the Federation Account.
“This is the best way to proceed given the conflicting claims by Mr
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and the NNPC. After all the speeches and
comments like that of Mr Olumhense, the fundamental problem of
determining the facts as a basis for action must still be tackled. Is there
room for more action on corruption? Of course the answer can only
be yes. But action is needed to achieve change. Talk is cheap, action
is crucial.
“The clean up of the fraud in the subsidy payments regime to oil
marketers for which she paid a heavy personal price in the form of the
abduction of her mother by paid kidnappers in November 2012 is one
clear example”.
“Another example is the clean up of the pension fraud with the
establishment now of a new institution under the Federal Ministry of
Finance – the Pension Transition Administration Department to
ensure that pensioners under the old defined benefits scheme are not
defrauded anymore”, he said.