Federal Government Opens Up On How Abacha’s Returned Loot Will Be Spent

After about twenty years that the late Nigerian head of state, General Sani Abacha Died, His acclaimed looted wealth still keep the country in shock.

Naija News recalled that about $311 million which was stollen stolen during the late general’s regime were safely returned to our country from the United States.

However, while speaking on the returned loot, Garba Shehu, the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, says the newly repatriated $311 million has been allocated to specific infrastructural projects like the construction of the Second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano expressways and the Mambilla Power Plant.

In a statement on Tuesday, Shehu said the fight against COVID-19 would have been tougher if the federal government did not have access to such funds.

“The receipt of these stolen monies – and the hundreds of millions more that have already been returned from the United Kingdom and Switzerland – are an opportunity for the development of our nation, made far harder for those decades the country was robbed of these funds.

“Indeed, previous monies returned last year from Switzerland – some $320 million US dollars – are already being used for the government’s free school feeding scheme, a stipend for millions of disadvantaged citizens, and grain grants for those in severe food hardship.

“Without these funds, the fight against COVID-19 would be even tougher.”

Here is Garba’s tweets on retrieved loot

STATEMENT ON THE RETURN OF THE ABACHA STOLEN MILLIONS FROM THE UNITED STATES AND JERSEY

On Monday, May 4, 2020, some $311 million US Dollars – stolen from the citizens of Nigeria during the Abacha regime – were safely returned to our country from the United States.

— Garba Shehu (@GarShehu) May 5, 2020

The presidential aide also described the latest return as a testament to the growing relationship between the governments of Nigeria and the United States.

“For years many countries deemed successive Nigerian administrations as too corrupt, too venal and too likely to squander and re-steal the stolen monies – so they did not return the funds,” he said.

“Today, US, UK and other jurisdictions have found the partnership with the nation of Nigeria they can finally trust.”

Restating his principal’s commitment to fighting corruption, he said the days of politicians using government as “their personal ATM” are over.