Wonders, they say shall never end. As the ongoing probe of the looting of the nation’s treasury by the immediate past government of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan continues, Nigerians are curiously disturbed with the huge figures being mentioned by suspected looters and re-looters.
It is often said that one who seeks equity and justice must approach it with clean hands. Of all the stories of the stealing, one most striking and really disturbing is the open revelation by suspects of their roles in re-looting the loot of Late General Sani Abacha.
Given the way and manner the Peoples Democratic Party Government went after the Late General Sani Abacha loot since 1999, Nigerians were almost left with the impression that it was the Abachas that were the only treasury looters in Nigeria. The last time we were to have yet another looter from the PDP clan, it was the Late Dieprieye Alamieseigha who jumped bail in London dressed like a woman. Since he arrived the country, he was not only pardoned for treasury looting, but was given national honours by the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. His class of thieves within the PDP were equally let off the hook and pardoned by the administration. This was when most Nigerians became really skeptical of the Jonathan’s government’s commitment to the war on graft that has brought the nation almost to its knees before they were voted out. In fact, a former governor of Rivers State with over 150 count charges bordering on stealing of the state’s resources, money laundering and other economic crimes secured a perpetual injunction from the court never to prosecute him for all the charges. The same ex-governor was spotted in almost all Presidential engagements of the PDP government. His name is again bopping up among those who “received.”
But former Delta State Governor, James Onanefe Ibori was not as lucky as his compatriots in the PDP thieving clan. He belonged to an opposing camp to the Goodluck Jonathan’s. For that reason he paid the supreme price of the administration. Ibori was chased by that administration like the Abachas everywhere in the world. He was trailed from Oghara, his birth place, through Lagos, Cotonou, Dubai and finally got him down in London where he is currently serving his jail sentence from a five count charge. The Jonathan administration supplied all information needed to nail him. Like the Abachas, Ibori’s loot were traced, tracked and repatriated. Those were the only known thieves to the Jonathan’s administration.
Many thanks today to the wind of change currently blowing in the corridors of power. Mind blowing figures, amount that would have been enough to address electricity problem in Nigeria ten years ago, money that would have been sufficient to fix our roads across the country, money that would have been enough to fix our universities and other educational institutions 16 years ago, money that would have been enough to exterminate Boko Haram five years ago, I mean money that would have been enough to create the environment for millions of unemployed Nigerians to get mouth watering jobs were simply shared and looted by PDP bigwigs and their collaborators! This is shameful.
Some weeks ago, the Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole from a vantage position of obtaining credible information accused the former Finance Minister and coordinating Minister of the economy , Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of helping the looting of the nation’s treasury. She called Oshiomhole names that were not his. She said Oshiomhole was just accusing her because she did not approve a loan for Edo State Government. But by last week, her song has started changing following the revelations coming out from the office of the National Security Adviser to former president Jonathan. Okonjo-Iweala has indirectly opened up on how the Abacha loot was practically re-looted.
It was learnt last week that that more suspects have named Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in the approvals and withdrawals of huge cash from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), and the Emeritus Chairman of Daar Communication, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, claimed that they got approvals for all projects they were accused of running. But the EFCC is said to have stumbled on fresh clues that some recovered funds from the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha’s family members might have been used for the “arms purchase”. It was also learnt that some of the suspects acted on verbal approvals to carry out transactions.
Also last week, a former Director of Finance in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Mr. Shuaibu Salisu, confessed that $47million was withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 11 suit cases. He equally said he suspected that the cash might have been given to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The prying eyes of the EFCC also discovered that N10billion was withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly elections. The payment of the N10billion was said to have been authenticated by former Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who has said she transferred $322 million from the Abacha loot to Dasuki, following instruction from Dr. Jonathan.
The ex-minister said the whooping $322 million from Abacha loot was meant for security matters and she considers security very important. A day later, she claimed the money was loaned to office of the NSA. Now all of these open the door for more questions? Is it the office of the NSA that carries out procurements for the Federal Ministry of Defense or Ministry of Interior? Where are the equipments, arms and ammunition purchased with the Abacha loot? Did the procurements (if any) go through due process as laid out in the Public Procurement Act 2007? These are the questions Nigerians are asking and Okonjo-Iweala is duty bound to provide answers.
It is immoral, culturally wrong, ethically disgusting for a repatriated loot to be re-looted under any guise. From the statements of all those who received the monies from Office of the NSA, none has said they used the monies received to purchase arms to fight Boko Haram in the North East. They did not even say they bought bows and arrows with the monies. Instead, what we are hearing from their confessions is that N2.1 billion was received from the office of the NSA for “PDP campaign jingles”. We hear N4.6billion was received for “spiritual prayers.” We hear of moneys ($47miilion) moved by a Director of Finance from CBN in crates to office of the NSA and so many others. Did such movements also get the approval of Jonathan? All these happened under the supervision and watch of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Yet, she is still spitting fire, speaking Breton Woods Grammar used to deceive Nigerians for such a long time.
Again, the other questions to ask are: Since when has the PDP campaign budget been administered by Office of NSA to the president? What happened to the PDP secretarit? Were they short of staff or personnel that Dasuki became their omnibus treasurer? Since when did Office of the NSA be the procurement unit of the Ministry of Defense? The billions of dollars and Naira shared by the NSA to PDP big wigs; were such monies also for security purposes? How come state funds, money recovered from looters now ended up in accounts of individuals in government and the PDP as well as their interests?
Okonjo-Iweala still has a lot to tell Nigerians than she has revealed. She has to be invited to face the law in Nigeria. Mouthing his accusers from far away Washington DC can never be accepted. Quite frankly, this is the time for all suspects to open up because, clearly, the game is up. Denials and blame game would not help suspects this time around. The USA must not hide Nigerian treasury looters or those who helped the looting in their territories. The US must not provide a cover for the bleeding of Nigeria. Washington must come clean on this.
• Mr. Dan Owegie is a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Edo State.
