Abacha Loot: Why Buhari’s ‘Integrity’ Claim Is A Huge Wash -By Jeff Okoroafor

The past few weeks have provided me with a lot to think about – where we were as a country before the emergence of Nigerian nationalism known to all as independence, how we fell apart and steadily retrogressed after independence, the opportunity we had in 1999 to redirect the country’s trajectory but threw away, and the greed and corruption of the elites that have kept us aground since then. I also considered the tension and complexities of our contemporary leaders and the society they are leaving for us and the next generation. These thoughts deepened my pain. Of all these, what stole away my joy most greatly was ‘corruption’, and the different length those in a position of authority has gone to either defend it or protect those who perpetrate it.

In the past 19 years, series of sums of money in foreign currency have been brought back from Western countries, especially Switzerland, where former military Head of State, the late General Sani Abacha stashed funds which he looted from the Nigerian treasury. These monies have always been called “Abacha loot”.

On 27^th of April 2016, president Muhammadu Buhari from his official Twitter handle tweeted and said, “Nigeria is awaiting receipt from Swiss Govt. of $320 million, identified as illegally taken from Nigeria under Abacha”. I don’t know about you but back then I found this statement very disturbing and as a matter of fact still do today. It is obvious why the President or the operator of his Twitter handle chose to describe this amount (which is over N100 billion, a third of what the Federal, State, and Local governments shared at the time) as money “identified as illegally taken from Nigeria under Abacha”, rather than the usual “Abacha loot”. The answer is simple. Buhari, long before he was elected president, gave Abacha a clean bill of health in Kano after the remembrance prayers marking 10 years of his death. He stubbornly insisted that Abacha “never stole”, and that he was not corrupt. So the line “Illegally taken from Nigeria” was a ploy to sidestep the word: “stolen”. And “Under Abacha” portrays it as if other people, not Abacha himself, committed the “illegality” without Abacha’s knowledge. Some unknown individuals were taking money from Nigeria and lodging it in Abacha’s Swiss bank accounts? For what purpose really? Perhaps, they knew that our economy would be in trouble in the future and decided to help “save” for this rainy day for us? A man with a shred of honour or the integrity he likes peddling, wouldn’t say a thing like that.

President Buhari’s claim to “integrity” is a huge wash because he had not only failed to call a spade by its name but have also gone to an unimaginable height to defend a dastardly corrupt man. 2016 wasn’t the first time recovery of Abacha loot was made. In 2003, the government of Nigeria announced that a total of 22.5 million euro Abacha loot was recovered. In 2010, the Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke said a total of 175 million euro was also recovered from the family of the late dictator following a confiscation order by the Supreme Court of Liechtenstein. It didn’t end there, the Swiss government in 2002 also said that it had so far returned to Nigeria $700 million “stolen” by Abacha and deposited in several Swiss banks. So Buhari isn’t acting out of ignorance. His being mischievous, deceptive and in support of corruption was a thing done on purpose. He was aware of all these recoveries yet vehemently insisted on the man’s saint status. Academically, integrity is defined as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. So how can Buhari lay claim to integrity when after seeing all these, still believe that Abacha never stole, and was not corrupt?

As we speak, the British Court is about to seize the newly discovered Abacha loot of 211 million pounds, that is an equivalent of N82 billion. There are countless examples of cases where Buhari has failed the integrity tests. He failed it in the case of Chibok girls, he failed it on Leah Sharibu, he failed it on Babachir Lawal, on Maikanti Baru, on Abdurasheed Maina, on Rotimi Amaechi, on Abba Kyari, on Ganduje, and many others. He is, without doubt, a strong proponent of corruption and as a sitting president and with the kinds of the cult he runs, nothing can be done to him so he might as well wear the corruption medal boldly and stop hiding under a guise.

Let me be clear, as long as we continue to entertain and tolerate these people and the kind of governance they provide us, we will forever remain a third world country. Given all that I have seen since Buhari took over power, Nigerians are not yet ready for good governance. In fact, they’re flooded with euphoria as their leaders take a turn in dishing them bad governance. When the citizens of this country are ready, they will rise like Alaa Salah of Sudan and take back their country.