Politics
US Exposes FG’s Plan To Pay APC Governor $100m From Abacha Loot
A plot by the federal government to pay an APC governor $100 million from the Abacha loot has been uncovered.
The United States Department of Justice says the Federal Government led by the President, Muhammadu Buhari, is blocking attempts to recover Abacha loot traced to Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu.
The DoJ made the claim in court papers filed before the District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, Bloomberg reports.
The PUNCH reports that Bagudu, who is a close ally of Buhari and a prominent member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, was indicted by the US Government for helping the late military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, to transfer billions of dollars in the mid-90s.
According to documents from the DoJ, Bagudu spent six months in federal detention in Texas while awaiting extradition to the Island of Jersey.
However, before he was handed over to criminal trial in Jersey, he quickly agreed to return $163m to Nigeria and was released on bond to Nigeria, where he was meant to be prosecuted for money laundering.
However, on returning to Nigeria, he was cleared to contest in three different election cycles – once as a senator and twice as governor – all of which he won and now enjoys immunity.
In a report published by Bloomberg, on Friday, it was stated that the US Department of Justice says the Nigerian government is preventing the US from seizing Bagudu’s alleged loot.
“The DoJ also contends that the Nigerian government is hindering US efforts to recover allegedly laundered money it says it’s traced to Bagudu. Buhari’s administration says a 17-year-old agreement entitles Bagudu to the funds and prevents Nigeria from assisting the US, according to recent filings from the District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington,” the report stated.
According to the report, the disagreement may hamper future cooperation between Nigeria and the US to recover state money moved offshore by Abacha, whom Transparency International estimates may have looted as much as $5bn during his 1993-98 rule.
A commitment by Nigeria to transfer the funds to Kebbi State Governor Abubakar Bagudu appears to undermine Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s pledge to quell rampant graft in Africa’s top oil producer,” the report stated.
Neither Bagudu nor a spokesman for the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), responded to requests for comment.
A spokesman for Buhari said the settlement and the litigation were matters for Malami.
A spokesman for the DoJ declined to comment.
Successive Nigerian governments have sought to recoup the money looted by Abacha, who died in office, and have so far repatriated more than $2bn with the cooperation of other countries, according to US court filings.
The DoJ said in a February 3 statement that Bagudu, 58, was part of a network controlled by Abacha that “embezzled, misappropriated and extorted billions from the government of Nigeria.”
Bagudu is the chairman of an influential body of governors representing the ruling All Progressives Congress, Buhari’s party.
“Despite the forfeiture action being initiated following a Nigerian state request in 2012, Buhari’s government now says it can’t assist the US because it’s bound by a settlement Bagudu reached with the administration of then-President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003, according to the court filings,” the report states.
Under the terms of that accord, which was approved by a UK court, Bagudu returned $163m of allegedly laundered money to the Nigerian authorities, which in exchange dropped all outstanding civil and criminal claims against him “stemming from his involvement in government corruption,” according to a December 23 memorandum opinion by District Judge John D. Bates in Washington D.C.
That meant “Nigeria renounced any interest whatsoever” in Bagudu’s trust assets, including those the US is attempting to recover for the West African nation, the opinion stated.
Bagudu was able to return to Nigeria after concluding the settlement and was elected as a senator in 2009. Six years later, he was voted in as Kebbi’s governor in elections that brought Buhari and his party to power.
After Bagudu successfully sued Nigeria for violating the 2003 settlement, Buhari’s regime reached a new agreement with him in October 2018, according to the court filings.
“That would result in the transfer of ownership of the investment portfolios, worth 141m euros ($155m) to the Nigerian state, which would then pay 98.5 million euros to Bagudu and his affiliates, according to Bates’ December 23 opinion. The funds are currently restrained by the UK at the request of the US,” it added.
Nigeria’s government claims the updated 2018 agreement with the Kebbi governor, which requires court approval in the UK, will “curtail and mitigate its looming exposure” from the judgment in Bagudu’s favor.
Buhari’s administration submitted the 2018 deal to the UK court in September to support its application to unfreeze the assets so they can be sent to Nigeria, according to the opinion. The court has yet to make a decision.
In a significant development, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has officially lifted the visa restrictions that were previously imposed on Nigerian travelers. This announcement came from the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, following a Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu.
“I can tell you that the agreement has been reached and effective from today, Nigerian passport holders intending to travel to the UAE are able to do so,” Idris confirmed.
The lifting of these restrictions marks the end of a prolonged diplomatic dispute between the two nations. The UAE initially imposed the visa ban due to several unresolved issues, including financial disputes. Notably, Dubai’s Emirates airline had suspended flight operations to Nigeria over the Central Bank of Nigeria’s inability to remit an estimated $85 million in revenue to the UAE.
In June, after extensive negotiations, the Nigerian government reassured its citizens that the visa ban would soon be lifted. The government also announced that it had paid 98% of the $850 million owed to the UAE, paving the way for this positive outcome.
Further details on the agreement will be provided later today, as mentioned by Minister Idris. This development is expected to strengthen bilateral relations and promote travel and trade between Nigeria and the UAE.
Stay tuned for more updates as the full details of the agreement are released. For now, Nigerian travelers can start planning their trips to the UAE, free from previous travel restrictions.
The Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, told the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party in Abuja on Tuesday that he was leaving the party.
He said he would join the ruling All Progressives Congress which he claimed would protect the interest of the South-East in the 2023 elections.
Our correspondent gathered that Umahi told the members of the National Working Committee of the PDP that his decision to join the APC was irrevocable.
The members of the PDP NWC, who were led to the meeting by its National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, were said to have tried in vain to convince the governor not to abandon the party.
Apart from Secondus, among those that were at the meeting at the Ebonyi Governor’s Lodge in Abuja were Deputy National Secretary, Agbo Emmanuel; National Organising Secretary, Austin Akobondu; Financial Secretary, Abdullahi Maibasira; National Women Leader, Mariya Waziri and Senator Sulieman Nazif.
The governor was said to be friendly when he received the PDP delegation, but stuck to his decision to leave the PDP when the issue came up.
It was gathered that the PDP delegation impressed it upon the governor that there was no need leaving the PDP for the APC, which they argued had become unpopular.
Sources at the meeting, however, said the governor was not convinced, insisting that the APC was planning to zone the 2023 Presidency to the South-East.
He was said to have promised to stay in the PDP if the party could make a pronouncement that it would zone the Presidency to the same zone.
One of the sources said, “I think his (governor’s) mind was made up. We told him there was no need for him to abandon the party that had made him a deputy governor, state chairman of the party, two-time governor and all that. But he refused.
“He wanted us to unilaterally zone the office of the Presidency to his area. We cannot do that. Parties are not run that way. He told us he was leaving. That is what we got from him.’’
When contacted, Secondus confirmed that the party’s leadership met with Umahi.
He, however, refused to declared the details of the meeting, insisting that the meeting was on ‘‘national issues.’’
An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission investigating officer, Adariko Michael, on Tuesday, alleged that N2.2 billion was spent on prayers in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia to win the war against Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria.
Mr. Michael was giving evidence as the first prosecution witness (PW1) in the trial of Sambo Dasuki, former National Security Adviser (ONSA) to President Goodluck Jonathan, in the alleged two billion dollars arms deal fraud.
Others charged with Mr. Dasuki, a retired colonel, are a former General Manager with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Aminu Baba-kusa, Acacia Holdings Limited, and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited.
The EFCC charged them with 32 counts bordering on misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, dishonest release and receiving various sums of money before Husseini Baba-Yusuf.
Led in evidence by the EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, Mr Micheal said N750 million was allegedly transferred from the ONSA special account to Reliance Referral Hospital Limited’s account with First Bank.
He added that N650 million was also transferred to Acacia Holding Limited’s account with EcoBank, while another N600 million and N200 million were transferred to the company’s account with UBA.
“Between September 27, 2013, and April 16, 2015, N50 million was credited to Reliance Referral Hospital’s account.
“Based on responses from the banks involved, as investigating officer, we found out that money was transferred to several individuals and companies.
“When we went through the account statement, we asked the second defendant (Aminu Babakusa) the reason for this.
“He informed us that the money was used to hire clerics to pray for the nation as regards Boko Haram crisis.
“When we asked him to provide the names, contacts and phone numbers of the clerics he hired to pray for the nation, he mentioned only two,” he said.
Mr Dasuki spent four years in detention, following his arrest in 2015 over alleged misappropriation of N2.2 billion meant for arms purchase during his time as National Security Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan
After the Federal Government had consistently failed to honor court orders granting him bail, including an ECOWAS court judgment in 2016, he was finally released on December 24, 2019
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