Abacha Loot: “I AM happy to confirm that the Federal Government of Nigeria on May 4, 2020 received $311,797, 866.11 of the Abacha assets repatriated from the United States and Bailiwick of New Jersey”. That was the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami on his verified Twitter account at 6:32pm on Monday, May 4, 2020
Surely, there is a clear difference between an asset and stolen public property. That the monies being repatriated from Abacha’s secret accounts belong to the Federal Republic of Nigeria is beyond question. Abacha was a military officer who, through coup plotting, became the Head of State. He was not known to be a businessman or an industrialist; in fact, he was a soldier all his working life. Yet, this amount is the third tranche of recoveries of the money found in his accounts abroad under Buhari’s regime alone. In 2017, $322m was returned from Switzerland while another $308m was repatriated from Jersey Island, UK in February this year. Abacha loot recoveries have been going on since 2002 with a total value of $4.6bn so far recovered out of the estimated $5bn stolen
