Skip to main content

It’s Insulting For United States To Give Conditions On How Nigeria Should Spend Abacha Loot —Sagay

Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Prof Itse Sagay (SAN), has reacted to the return of $300m looted by the late dictator, Sani Abacha.

Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, confirmed the return of the looted funds on Monday in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Dr Umar Gwandu.

Speaking in an interview with SaharaReporters on Monday, the professor of law said it undermines the sovereignty of Nigeria for the United States to give conditions on the use of the money by the Nigerian Government.  Itse Sagay

The United States Government had told Nigeria to be ready to “replace” the $300m General Sani Abacha loot it returned to the country if the fund was misused. 

According to the U.S. Justice Department, the money must be used for the agreed public projects highlighted in the agreement signed with it before the fund was returned to Nigeria.  See Also Money JUST IN: Nigerian Government Receives $311m Abacha Loot From United States 0 Comments 6 Hours Ago

Sagay further explained that although it was wrong to give conditions, the US resorted to that based on previous experience with returned loot which was stolen upon getting to Nigeria.

Reacting specifically as to whether it was wrong for the US to give conditions on how the money should be spent, Sagay said, “In principle, it is wrong for them (US) to do that, it undermines our sovereignty and I will almost say it’s an insult of some sort given the fact that it is our money, which was taken to their jurisdiction illegally.

“What they (US) are doing is based on experience. We have had a lot of loot; Abacha loot released in the past which was simply relooted by those in power. That happened a lot and the whole world knows that that is why they have been giving conditions.  See Also Money Be Ready To “Replace” Returned $300m Abacha Loot If Misused, United States Tells Nigerian Government 0 Comments 5 Hours Ago

“You find that the social investment project was as a result of this type of situation, where the World Bank was supervising the project because that was the condition, on which whatever money that was released was released.

“In the past, those funds were ‘relooted’ by those in power. It’s a pity because those in power now are the very antithesis of those who were in power then but the international community is not aware of that and it is not prepared to countenance or appreciate that fact.

“I think as long as both parties agree and that is what the government wanted to use it for in the first place or it was not imposed on them, it’s okay.

“Whatever is agreed to, usually it would be a good thing, usually, it will be for the benefit of the most vulnerable at times, maybe infrastructural project. Whatever it is, let the Nigerian government truly apply it to it and then the country will be better for it.”
 

Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 


via IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nigerian Academy Of Science Inducts First Female President

The Nigerian Academy of Science has inducted a professor of Parasitology/Epidemiology, Ekanem Ikpi Braide, as its 19th President on Thursday. In a statement issued by Oladoyin Odubanjo, the Executive Secretary of the Academy, Braide is the Academy’s first female President in 44 years of existence. It read, “Braide was a member of the national committee that achieved the laudable feat of guinea worm eradication in Nigeria. “She has a rich professional experience as a researcher and an administrator. In July 2010, Professor Braide was honoured by the President of Nigeria with the award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) for her contribution to disease control in Nigeria. “She was nominated by the Honourable Minister of Health to serve in the Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Health Sector Response (MEACoC-HSR). “Professor Braide served as Vice-Chancellor, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) Calabar, Nigeria (2004 to 2009) and as P...
Post a Comment
Read more

NLNG Signs Letter Of Intent On Delayed Gas Expansion Project

The Nigerian Natural Liquefied Gas LTD has signed a letter of intent for the engineering, procurement and construction of its long held up Train Seven project. In a statement released by the company on Wednesday, it said that the $10bn project will be executed by a consortium of Italian firm Saipem, Japan’s Chiyoda and South Korea’s Daewoo. The statement reads, “The project will form part of the investment of over $10bn including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, thereby boosting the much needed Foreign Direct Investment profile of Nigeria.” Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Atta, said in 2018 that the Final Investment Decision would be made in the fourth quarter of that year. This did not however, materialize. According to the release, the project will have a four to five-year execution time after the signing of the FID. The project is expected to add an extra 8 million tons per annum of gas to the 22 mtpa currently exported by the company. Oil News AddThis :...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former Maritime Agency Boss, Buba Galadima, Accuses AMCON Of Witch-hunt After Property Takeover

  A former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Agency, Buba Galadima, has accused the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria of witch-hunt after the agency took possession of his business and assets on Tuesday in Abuja. Galadima, an ardent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that he did not borrow money or have unpaid debt with Unity Bank, which lodged a complaint against him and occasioned AMCON’s move on Tuesday. The properties taken over include House No. 15, Addis Ababa Crescent, Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and House No. 4, Bangui Street, Wuse 2, also in Abuja.  Reacting to the situation, Galadima said, “This is an attempt to disgrace and break me down. This is injustice and an attempt to humiliate me. "But I am unbreakable and they can never silence me. They sacked me and over 50 people that sleep in the apartment. "We don’t know where to go. We will remain on the streets. We will remain on the streets until God provi...
Post a Comment
Read more