N10.7bn left from recovered Abacha loot

About N10.7 billion is left in the account housing the recovered Abacha loot, Nigerian officials said on Thursday.

The recovered Abacha loot are funds returned to the Nigerian government from monies stolen from the country’s treasury by a now late military Head of State, Sani Abacha.

The late dictator had stolen an estimated $5 billion from Nigeria’s coffers and the money is being returned in tranches after agreements with countries such as Switzerland and the United States.

It is reported that not less than $700 million has been repatriated from Switzerland alone, but not clear how much has been recovered in total.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former minister of finance, is currently under attack for allegedly approving the transfer of $322 million Abacha loot to former National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki to prosecute the fight against Boko Haram, without appropriation.

But she said it was a loan. Okonjo-Iweala through her media adviser, Paul Nwabuikwu, had in a recent statement said: “Some new Abacha funds of about $322 million were returned with another $700m still expected to be returned. Former President (Goodluck) Jonathan set up a Committee comprising the former minister of Justice, former National Security Adviser and the former minister of Finance, to determine how best to use both the returned and expected funds for development.”

Briefing journalists at the Presidential Villa Abuja, after the monthly National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue State, said the mentioned sum was what the current administration met in the account, and had not been touched by this government.

Ortom said according to the Accountant-General, “the dollar account as at November 2015 ending, has a balance of $ 26, 000, 389 (N5, 122, 076, 633) , while the pound sterling account has a balance of £19, 033, 000.00 (N5, 619, 965, 268.4) That is where we are today”.

Ahmed Idris, the Accountant-General of the Federation also briefed Council on the state of the Excess Crude proceeds. Idris reported to Council that the ECA stood at $2.257 billion as at the end of November 2015.

He also reported a slight change against the previous balance, with an interest which is due of N599,137,467 into the account as accrued interest.

Darius Ishiaku, governor of Taraba State said Council received briefing on the report of revenue collecting agencies of the Federal Government, which collect revenue in foreign currencies but remit in naira equivalent into the Federation Account, which is not allowed. “So the Ministry of Finance is working on the details to pass it to the Council with a comprehensive report on the agencies that are involved, which will be later be made known to the public” he said.

Budget and National Planning minister, Udo Udoma, told journalists at the briefing that council was briefed by the ministry on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper. The presentation, he said highlighted government’s fiscal policy strategy and direction for the next three years.

Council was also briefed on government’s revenue and expenditure projections for the next three years as well as their views in terms of the global outlook and micro-economic framework and the key assumptions underlining the given projections.

Udoma said urged the states to adopt the MTEF and FSP (Fiscal Strategy Paper), which have now been approved by the National Assembly, as a basis for developing their annual budgets. “We also emphasised the need for states to be guided by the assumptions of the MTEF and also the need for states to be conservative in their expenditure and their expenditure projections for 2016-2018, in view of the declining oil price.