Abacha loot spent on roads, electricity, education ---World Bank
(Nigeria) Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP,
has “received several documents from the World Bank totalling over 700 pages on
information on the spending of recovered assets stolen by the late General
Abacha, with some of the documents suggesting that Abacha loot was spent on
roads, electricity, education, health and water.”
SERAP’s Executive Director, Mr Adetokunbo Mumuni in a
statement in Lagos on Sunday, said, “We can confirm that last week we received several
documents from Ann May of the Access to Information Team of the World Bank
following our Access to Information Request to the Bank. We also received a
letter dated November 24, 2015 from Mr
Rachid Benmessaoud, Director of the World Bank in Africa.
“In total, SERAP has received over 700 pages of documents,
which we are now closely studying and scrutinising with a view to discovering
whether the documents contain details that Nigerians would like to see and
whether the information correspond to the facts on the ground. After this
analysis, we will respond to the Bank and consider our options, including
filing an appeal before the Bank’s Access to Information Appeals Board and
taking other appropriate legal actions nationally and internationally to
discover what exactly happened to Abacha recovered loot.
“In the meantime, our preliminary review of some of the
documents and the letter from Mr Rachid Benmessaoud have revealed certain facts
which raise more questions about what exactly happened to Abacha loot: First,
that Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as Minister of Finance in a letter dated January 9, 2005 explained to the Bank that
around $500m (N65bn) of Abacha loot received from Switzerland was programmed
into and spent in the 2004 and 2005 budgets on roads, electricity, education,
water and health across all sixgeo-political zones of Nigeria.
“Second, Mrs Iweala explained to the Bank that N18.60bn was
spent on roads; N10.83bn spent on health; N7bn spent on education; N6.20bn
spent on water; and N21.70bn spent on electricity. She also said that part of
the funds were spent on new and ongoing investment projects. Mrs Iweala said
that relevant federal ministries have the full details on the spending of
repatriated Abacha loot. The Bank noted that there was no funds monitoring and
tracking mechanism in place to trace the spending of Abacha loot.
“Third, Mr Rachid Benmessaoud confirmed that the World Bank
played a monitoring role in a return of assets by Switzerland but that the Bank
is not currently involved in the monitoring of spending of Abacha loot that
have been returned to Nigeria in recent years. He said that the Bank would be
prepared to set up a mechanism to monitor the use of Abacha loot if the
Nigerian government request the Bank’s assistance in this respect.
“Given Mrs Okonjo-Iweala’s involvement in the spending of
Abacha loot, SERAP calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently probe the
role of the Ministry of Finance and relevant federal ministries at the time in
the spending of Abacha loot particularly given the strong allegations of
mismanagement that characterised the use of the funds.
“Although Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said that Abacha loot was spent
in the 2004 and 2005 budgets on roads, electricity, education, water and health
across all 6 geo-political zones of Nigeria, there is no evidence of such
projects as millions of Nigerians continue to travel on dead roads, while they
continue to lack access to adequate electricity supply, water, health and
quality education. Therefore, President Buhari can no longer continue to remain
silent on this issue of public interest if Nigerians are to continue to trust
him in his fight against corruption,” the organisation also said.
It will be recalled that in a letter dated October 15, 2015 by Ann May of the Access to
Information Team, the Bank said that “In response to your request under AI3982,
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.
“In most cases, we will be able to respond within 20 working
days from receipt of a request for information. However, we may need additional
time in special circumstances, for example, if the request is complex or
voluminous or if it requires further review by or consultation with internal
World Bank units, external parties, the Access to Information Committee, or the
World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors.”
Earlier, SERAP had on September 21, 2015 sent an access to
information request to Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank Group urging him to
“exercise the Bank’s prerogative to release documents relating to spending of
recovered assets stolen by Late General Sani Abacha.”
The group also asked Mr Yong Kim to “disclose information
about the Bank’s role in the implementation of any projects funded by the
recovered assets and any other on-going repatriation initiatives on Nigeria
with which the Bank is engaged.”
The request was
“pursuant to the World Bank’s Access to Information Policy (The Policy),
approved by the Board on June 30, 205.
SERAP notes that one of the Policy’s guiding principles is to maximize
access to information. There is also clear public interest in Nigerians knowing
about the Bank’s supervisory role and specifically its involvement in the
implementation of projects on which repatriated funds were spent.”
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