"Recovered Abacha's $500million loot was used to develop rural areas" - Finance Minister, Okonjo-Iweala

Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy and , Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala , said yesterday that the $ 500 million recovered Abacha loot was used to develop the nation’s rural areas.

The minister was reacting to an article by Mr. Sonala Olumhense who claimed that $2.5 billion was recovered from the funds looted by the then maximum ruler, Gen. Sani Abacha but that the money disappeared under the minister’s watch.

According to the minister, $500 million, not $2.5 billion was recovered and had been spent on development projects in rural areas as agreed with the Swiss government.

A statement by Mr. Paul Nwabikwu, Special Adviser to the minister said that the claims by Mr. Olumhense were unverified and largely false.

“The problem I have with Mr Sonala Olumhense’s articles on the Coordinating Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala is the general absence of verified facts and the basing of opinions on gross inaccuracies.

“For instance, Mr Olumhense writes that $2.5 billion of Abacha money was recovered during Dr Okonjo Iweala’s time as Finance Minister under President Obasanjo and that the money disappeared implying some involvement in the disappearance by the Minister. This is absolutely false. First, the amount recovered was $500 million, not $2.5 billion.

“The recovered amount was channeled into rural projects and programmes as per the agreement with the Swiss government which repatriated the funds. A combined team of Nigerian and Swiss NGOs with the World Bank later verified the use of this money on the ground in the projects cited and they certified the money had been accurately utilized.

“The World Bank had written about this in a 2007 2008 Handbook on stolen Asset Recovery where the case was cited as a best practice example of how to deploy returned proceeds of looted assets. Readers of Mr Olumhense would benefit more if his passionate writings on Dr Okono Iweala are supported by a bit more research as opposed to sweeping, unverified statements”, the statement read in part.