Concerns over alleged re-looting of over $1.5b Abacha booty

The Director, Media and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Oyeboade Akinola, did not respond to calls and messages from The Guardian on the amount so far expended on projects from the returned loot. Same as the spokesman to the Minister of Works and Housing, Hakeem Bello, who did not equally respond to his calls and messages on the matter.

At the Ministry of Finance, Nwodo Charles, the ministry’s spokesperson said he needed time to get accurate information on the matter.

On the state of the projects where part of the fund was to be spent, The Guardian had reported that the Federal Government has so far released a total of N116.72b for the much-politicised second Niger Bridge, a project valued at N414b, and expected to be delivered next year.

While the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola earlier said that the Lagos-Ibadan expressway would be completed by December 2021, some stakeholders note that meeting the target may be elusive given the current state of the road, just as the conclusion of the Abuja-Kano Expressway has remained elusive.

While the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) revealed that 703,506 poor and vulnerable Nigerians, out of an enrolled figure of 834, 948 targeted in the Nigerian social register received a total of N23.742b from the recovered $322.5m Abacha loot returned from Switzerland as at December 31, 2019, under the Conditional Cash Transfer of the Social Investment Programme (SIP), the SIP had been under attack, especially for lack of transparency and accountability.

Principal Partner – Nextier Advisory, Patrick Okigbo told The Guardian that re-looting of returned looted funds might continue to thrive due to fundamental issues, including wrong principles.

With the government having a trove of information than the masses on the corruption, and failing to willingly equip the public with it, Okigbo said re-looting of returned looted funds would continue.

“For years, scholars thought that corruption was a principal-agent problem, which informed the various anti-corruption initiatives. But if a “principled principal” is in charge, s/he will ensure that the agents (politicians, bureaucrats, private sector) stay on the straight and narrow. Pay higher wages, and the agents will be less corrupt. Give whistles to the blowers, and the corruption will stop. Reduce the discretion of the politicians and bureaucrats over decisions, and limit their powers. Increase the cost of the penalty, and most will shy away from the crime. Governments have tried all of the above with marginal impact on corruption. In fact, in some cases, corruption increased,” he noted.

According to him, the excitement of the new, young anti-corruption czar will ebb very soon when it becomes clear that he is rowing against the tide, not for lack of intent, but because he is using the wrong tools for hunting the beast.

Okigbo, who maintained that a strong system was necessary, especially one that would guarantee the independence of the judiciary, added that Nigeria might get worse with corruption.

“My argument is that the way we are going about it now will not solve the problem. It might even deepen the problem because the more we talk about the billions that people are stealing, scholarly evidence show that everybody then begins to believe that everybody is corrupt, and when they believe that everybody is corrupt, nobody wants to be a fool. So, they get involved as well,” he said.

For the former President of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and professor of economics at Babcock University, Segun Ajibola, the Federal Government must explain to Nigerians how returned looted funds have been expended.

Ajibola noted that while the administration is being trusted by some to have judiciously spent the returned loot, providing further explanation on the issue would determine if the funds were put to best use.

And for legal practitioner, Madaki Ameh, the general perception by Nigerians, which appears well-founded remains that returned looted funds are routinely re-looted by government officials in the current administration.

“This is because of the opaque nature of the recoveries so far, and a clear lack of accountability on what the recovered looted funds are being used for. Without such transparency and a clear consequence attached to impunity, the practice will continue,” Ameh said.

The Director, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Idayat Hassan, said opacity and lack of transparency have successfully beclouded what the recovered loots have been used for.

According to her, in terms of the recovery proper and monitoring of the asset recovery, a lot has to be done for citizens to be able to pinpoint where the monies are being channeled to, or being spent.

“Aside from the three big projects, what happened to other monies? What exactly were they utilised for, and is government pitching this to the citizens? How is the government communicating it to the citizens? I think those are the fundamental issues,” she said.

She added that corruption has become even more technical, diversified and unabated under the current administration.
Pro-tem President, Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Professionals of Nigeria (CIFIPN), Dr. Enape Victoria Ayishetu told The Guardian that she had honoured the Presidency’s invitation on the repatriated loot and had recommended the best way to spend the fund.

Ayishetu noted that the Federal Government had been advised to spend the money through budgeting process to ensure transparency and accountability, but that the advice was ignored.

“We can only advise or recommend options that will ensure judicious use, we can not compel the government to decide. We made our presentation and recommendation, that is the best we can do,” she said.

Ayishetu noted that it was not surprising that corruption continue to thrive in the country despite the anticorruption war, stressing that the country would not win the fight without the right mechanism.