By Ayo Kehinde
The US Department of Justice has accused the Federal Government of Nigeria of planning to hand over $100m of ‘Abacha loot’ to Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbo State. The governor was an aide to Abacha while President Muhammadu Buhari was Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund when Abacha was Head of State.
The US government which has concluded plans to release part of $300m looted funds traced to the former Nigerian dictator has directly accused the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami of facilitating the transfer of the $100m to Governor Bagudu, both of whom comes from Kebbi state.
Also, the Department of Justice has accused the Nigerian Government of hindering US efforts to recover money allegedly looted during the Abacha Administration, also reportedly traced to Bagudu.
Buhari’s Administration, according to a report on Friday, said a 17-year-old agreement entitles Bagudu to the funds and prevents Nigeria from assisting the US to recover it, recent filings from the District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington said.
“This case illustrates how complex and contentious repatriating stolen assets to Nigeria can be,” said Matthew Page, an associate fellow at London-based Chatham House and former Nigeria expert for US intelligence agencies. “Instead of welcoming US efforts, Nigeria’s lawyers appear to be supporting the interests of one of the country’s most powerful families.”
In the case involving Bagudu, the US in 2013 initiated a forfeiture action against a host of assets, including four investment portfolios held in London in trust for him and his family, according to the district court filings.
The Department of Justice, DoJ said in a February 3 statement that Bagudu, 58, was part of a network controlled by Abacha that “embezzled, misappropriated and extorted billions from the government of Nigeria.”
Despite the forfeiture action being initiated following a Nigerian state request in 2012, Buhari’s government now says it can’t assist the US because it’s bound by a settlement Bagudu reached with the administration of then President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003, according to the court filings.
Under the terms of that accord, which was approved by a UK court, Bagudu returned $163 million of allegedly laundered money to the Nigerian authorities, which in exchange dropped all outstanding civil and criminal claims against him “stemming from his involvement in government corruption,” according to a December 23 memorandum opinion by District Judge John D. Bates in Washington D.C.
That meant “Nigeria renounced any interest whatsoever” in Bagudu’s trust assets, including those the US is attempting to recover for the West African nation, the opinion stated.
After Bagudu successfully sued Nigeria for violating the 2003 settlement, the government reached a new agreement with him in October 2018, according to the court filings.
That would result in the transfer of ownership of the investment portfolios, worth 141 million euros ($155 million) to the Nigerian state, which would then pay 98.5 million euros to Bagudu and his affiliates, according to Bates’ December 23 opinion.
The funds are currently restrained by the UK at the request of the US.
Nigeria’s government claims the updated 2018 agreement with the Kebbi State Governor, which requires court approval in the UK, will “curtail and mitigate its looming exposure” from the judgment in Bagudu’s favour.
The full texts of neither settlement was published in the court filings.
Buhari’s administration submitted the 2018 deal to the UK court in September to support its application to unfreeze the assets so they can be sent to Nigeria, according to the opinion.
The court has yet to make a decision.
