World Bank Says Abacha’s Loot Is Too Huge To Handle

The World Bank has said it would take a lot of
time to give a comprehensive response on how
the late Sani Abacha’s loot was disbursed.
World Bank’s president Jim Yong Kim (left)
needs a lot of time to give comprehensive
information on Sani Abacha’s huge loot.
Following a request by the Socio-Economic
Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), the
World Bank representative responded that the
Bank requires additional time to provide
comprehensive information on the spending of
recovered funds looted by the late military ruler
Sani Abacha during his reign in Nigeria.
“In response to your request we would like to
inform you that we are still considering your
request and need additional time to provide you
with a more comprehensive response, ” told Ann
May of the World Bank’s Access to Information
Team in the letter dated October 15.
She informed SERAP representatives that
though in most cases it takes up to twenty
working days to respond the request for
information, under special circumstances it can
take much more time. The special
circumstances include the complex and
voluminous requests that usually require
consultation with the World Bank’s board of
executive directors as well as the internal units
and external parties.
“ We regret any inconvenience that a delay may
cause you and, if one does occur, will aim to
minimize it as much as possible, ” concluded
Ann Mayin the letter, adding that the World
Bank “ will notify you promptly of any updates
to the status of your request.
The estimates of the funds stolen by the late
military ruler Sani Abacha during the period of
his reign from 1993 to 1998 vary. While it is
estimated that the stolen funds make up at
least $ 4.3 billion, some experts claim that the
sum of the stolen assets is much higher and
might be as huge as $ 7 billion. Thus, Abacha,
who ruled Nigeria for five years after a 1993
coup, is believed to to be among the ranks of
Congo’s Mobutu Sese Seko as one of Africa’s
most avaricious looters in power.
Adetokunbo Mumuni, the SERAP’s executive
director, speaking on the delays with the
initiative to recover Abacha’s loot, told: “ we
welcome the Bank’s decision to thoroughly
consider the request. This thorough process
shows the seriousness the Bank attaches to
the request, and will hopefully contribute to a
positive outcome that will serve the interest of
justice and millions of Nigerians who want to
know about disbursement of Abacha loot.
SERAP sent its request to Jim Yong Kim, the
World Banlk’s president, on 21 September,
2015, asking him to release documents relating
to disbursement of recovered funds stolen by
late General Abacha.
The SERAP’s request stated: “ The World Bank
has been involved in overseeing the transfer,
disbursement, spending of recovered funds
from General Abacha, and other similar
initiatives to repatriate stolen funds to Nigeria.
As such, the World Bank is not a neutral party
in this matter. ”
On September 7 the Socio-Economic Rights
and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called
on President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate
the involvement of the World Bank in the
repatriation, management and spending of
stolen funds.
The SERAP executive director Adetokunbo
Mumuni stated that over $2billion stolen by the
late head of state, General Sani Abacha, was
repatriated back to Nigeria during the General
Abdulsalam Abubakar and former president
Olusegun Obasanjo administrations.
A year ago two senior lawyers from the United
States of America have asked the Attorney-
General of the country, Eric Holder Jr., to
without delay repatriate the $458m assets
stolen by a former Head of State, Gen. Sani
Abacha, and his accomplices to Nigeria.
A global civil society organisation leading the
fight against corruption, Transparent
International, has made it known that the
Abacha regime embezzled between $3 billion
and $5 billion of public funds. The Justice
Department suit filed in November 2013 saying
that Abacha, his son Mohammed Sani Abacha,
their associate Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and
others embezzled, misappropriated and
extorted money from the Nigerian government.
They laundered funds by buying bonds backed
by the United States using U.S. financial
institutions, prosecutors said. The assets were
held in banks that included Deutsche Bank AG,
HSBC Holdings Plc and Banque SBA, according
to the lawsuit.
Last year, after a 16-year legal battle, Nigeria
recovered from Liechtenstein $228 million
stolen by Abacha and his associates. Besides
that, Nigeria had recovered about $1.3 billion
of Abacha’s money from various European
jurisdictions.
Naij.com