I got a credible information last week from some grapevines in
Abuja that the much-talked about outstanding sum of $322 million (not $321
million as has been widely reported) stashed away in some secret accounts by
former military dictator, the late General Sani Abacha, in Liechtenstein,
Luxembourg and Switzerland, routinely referred to as Abacha loot, has been
repatriated and it is sitting pretty in a dedicated account in the Central Bank
of Nigeria (CBN).
This calls for pomp and ceremony, especially
by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of
Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), which had committed to ensure that the loot
was repatriated, regardless of the shenanigans and blackmail from within and
outside some official quarters in Nigeria.
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| *Late Gen Abacha |
A powerful Nigerian delegation, led by Malami and comprising a team of Nigerian
law firm of Oladipo Okpeseyi and Co., had signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) with the Swiss Federal Council and the World Bank on December 7, 2017 for
the repatriation of the loot, composed of $250 million traced to Liechtenstein
and $72 million traced to Luxembourg, which was confiscated by the Court of
Switzerland.
The repatriation of the fund actually began
two weeks from the day the MoU was signed in accord with its (MoU’s) provision.
The success of the effort must be celebrated
on three planks. The first is the critical condition given by the Swiss
authorities and the World Bank that the money must be channeled to some
development projects that would benefit Nigeria
The condition had a
background. The money repatriated before now was allegedly misappropriated.
For instance, $1.25 billion was repatriated
under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration without anything concrete to show
for its expenditure. More than $5 billion was reportedly stashed away in
foreign bank accounts by Abacha.
It is celebratory that the Muhammadu Buhari
administration, whether rightly or wrongly, enjoys the trust of these foreign
entities.
They, however, believe his administration
should be assisted to judiciously use the outstanding $322 million from the
Swiss, Liechtenstein
The World Bank was for good reasons
responsible for the initial delay in the fund’s repatriation because it did not
sanction the first set of projects proposed by the Nigerian government.
The Bank strategically sanctioned the new
projects that fell within the purview of its original programmes of
intervention.
In essence, it would not spend a dime but
would only partner Nigeria
This is commendable and one is eager to see an
exemplar, in this instance, of how to utilise and maximize public funds for
public good.
The second plank is the demonstrated capacity
by the federal government through the Office of the Attorney General of the
Federation and Minister of Justice to enhance the integrity of the process by
not resorting to acts that could question the honesty of the administration and
taint its vaunted anti-corruption capital in the perception of the foreign
entities.
Malami must be commended for acquitting himself
creditably in this area. He was able to reject an offer by the foreign lawyer
who was on the issue from the outset, Mr. Enrico Monfini.
He asked for a fresh 20 percent on the value
of the total money as his professional fees after he had reportedly been paid
for the same services by the previous administration.
Perhaps, given the seeming lack of experience
by Malami, Monfrini had thought he could arm-twist and hold him to ransom, but
Malami, courageously, and with his eyes on prudence, made a counter offer of
five per cent, which Monfrini rejected, thus prompting Malami to engage from a
list of three indigenous firms, which expressed interest in completing the
process, an experienced team of Nigerian lawyers, to wit: Mr Oladipo Okpeseyi
(SAN) and Mr. Temitope Isaac Adebayo, who have vast contacts in the area of
international litigation, arbitration, mediation, conciliation and negotiation.
Remarkably, they were offered four per cent
which they accepted, in the national interest, to complete the critical last
leg of the process.
Interestingly, that was a process that some
forces in some government quarters have continued to claim had been completed
by Monfrini and that Malami was possibly manipulating the process in order to
fleece the Federal Government. They were obviously out to fault Malami’s
engagement of the Nigerian senior lawyers.
I shudder at their claims and suggestions,
contoured by the obvious illogicality of their warped logic. If the
repatriation process had been completed by Monfrini as they claimed, why did
Monfrini reapply to complete the process on payment of a fresh 20 percent on
the value of the total money as his professional fees?
Was Monfrini, perhaps, acting in concert with
some influential Nigerians in the immediate past administration to re-loot part
of the funds?
The agency of government in Nigeria
The third plank on which the successful
repatriation of the Abacha loot must be celebrated is the utilisation of the
local content capacity of the nation’s legal capital in the face of
intimidatory antics posed by the acclaimed savvy of the foreign lawyer.
Using Nigerian lawyers to complete the process
on payment of rock-bottom professional fees is salutary in many ways. It
reinforces the patriotic zeal and nationalistic spirit of the Nigerian Bar.
Besides, the nation is, by and large, building
a body of legal experts in the apparently recondite area of tracing,
confiscation and repatriation of looted public funds for future engagements.
The duo of Okpeseyi and Adebayo must be
commended for their effort at providing professional services without acting
the shylock. Four per cent is considered fair enough against Monfrini’s offer
of 20 per cent that was counter-offered by Malami’s five percent.
If this, in the views of those who have tried
to tar Malami with a brush of malfeasance in the repatriation deal, is how to
provide jobs for the boys, I sincerely believe we need more
of such jobs for the boys that ensure cost-effective negotiations in the
management of our public finance.
For rendering professional services, they
deserve their wages, which payment should be expeditiously facilitated by the
relevant government ministries.
Overall, we need transparency, which is key
and, which the World Bank’s monitoring would ensure in the deployment of the
repatriated loot in the execution of target-specific projects.
But if those who are intent on blackmailing
Malami and the process of repatriation of the funds have evidence of sordid and
immoral deals, they should spill the beans now with evidence, not
unsubstantiated claims; otherwise, they should stop their time-wasting
exertions and the dishonourable tactics of muckraking when and where no muck
possibly exists.
*Ojeifo
is an Abuja-based journalist.
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