Victor Ezeja
AdminPresident Bola Tinubu on Friday expressed his appreciation to France for the return of $150 million stolen from Nigeria by the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha. This must have come as a relief given that the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu disclosed a fortnight ago: “the government is facing a revenue deficit. There is no money anywhere in the country; the government is just managing to pay salaries.”
This week, Tinubu sought the approval of the Senate for his government to borrow $7.8 billion and another €100 million, telling the lawmakers that “it has become exigent to request the senate consideration and approval of the 2022- 2024 external borrowing plans to enable the government to deliver its responsibilities to Nigerians through expeditious disbursement and efficient projects implementation.”
READ ALSO: Nigeria Recovers $3.8bn Abacha Loot In 25 Years
A year-old infographic report by the BBC with data gathered from the federal government, World Bank, and Transparency International put the total amount of looted funds recovered from late Head of State, General Sani Abacha in the past 24 years at $3.65 billion. It showed that while in 1998, a total of $750 million was recovered from the late Head of State’s family.
In year 2000, $64 million was recovered from Switzerland; in 2002 – $1.2 billion was recovered from the Abacha family; in 2003, $160 million and $88 million were recovered from Jersey and Switzerland respectively, and in 2005 another $461.3 million was returned back to the country from Switzerland. Also, in 2006, Nigeria was also fortunate to have received another $44.1 million from Switzerland; in 2014 – $227 million was recovered from Liechtenstein.
In 2018 another $322 million from Switzerland; in 2020 a total of $311.7 million was repatriated from the United States and also an agreement was signed for another $23 million to be sent from the US. Last year, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Leonard, disclosed that the amount of money stolen by Abacha and his cronies which have been repatriated to Nigeria by Washington has hit over $334.7 million.
With this latest repatriation of Abacha loot from France, the late military dictator might as well be described as the “gift that keeps giving”.
Meanwhile, in addition to the recovery of another tranche of Abacha loot from France, Tinubu acknowledged the signing of a €100 million agreement between Nigeria and France to support the i-DICE programme — a Federal Government initiative to promote investment in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Creative Arts Industries.
The agreement was signed by Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Technology, and the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, at an earlier event at Tafawa Balewa House, the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The President, according to a statement issued on Friday by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, lauded the strengthening of bilateral relations between Nigeria and France, noting that this progress followed his visit to Paris after his inauguration.
“Thank you for the good news on the return of Abacha loot. We appreciate your effective cooperation concerning the return of Nigeria’s money. It will be judiciously applied in attaining our development objectives,” the President told Catherine Colonna, the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, who delivered the news.
The President, while emphasizing the need to reinforce collaboration on both political and economic fronts, welcomed the growing cooperation between the two countries in areas of shared interest, such as climate change, economic integration, education, and culture.
On the situation in Niger Republic, Tinubu, who is the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, said Nigeria is monitoring the situation in the neighbouring country, and exploring diplomatic channels to avoid bloodshed.
“Leadership is about responding to the needs of the people; their cries, and their frustrations. Nigeria shares a border with Niger across the expanse of seven Nigerian states, and most of these states are very populated. Therefore, I need to guide ECOWAS carefully and steadily so that we manage our anger carefully.
”We have a colleague and a democratically-elected leader, President Bazoum, being used as a human shield. If we are not careful, he and his family can be endangered.
”I am deploying all appropriate back-channel strategies to avoid bloodshed in Niger Republic. We recognize the wishes of our people; they do not want war, but that does not mean we can not take bold and decisive action,” the President affirmed.
The President said Nigeria will continue to galvanize international partners in the determined pursuit of a peaceful resolution to the situation in Niger Republic.
The French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs conveyed the goodwill of President Emmanuel Macron and expressed the readiness of France to expand mutually beneficial collaboration with Nigeria across multiple sectors.
She proceeded to extend a formal invitation to President Bola Tinubu to attend the forthcoming Paris Peace Forum.
Speaking on the Abacha loot, the French Presidential Envoy said the repatriation followed the completion of legal processes.
“It was a long process, but we are glad that it was concluded. Sometimes, justice may be slow, but this is a very good achievement,” she said.
Ms. Colonna also commended President Tinubu’s leadership in ECOWAS, saying: “We support your efforts at ECOWAS. We are behind you because we believe that constitutional order is a treasure for all countries, and democracy must be a reality.”
Follow Us