The $318,460,329 due to be repatriated from the United States (U.S.) and Jersey was not stolen by former Head of State, the late Gen. Sani Abacha, his ex-Chief Security Officer, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, has said.
According to him, the loot was taken from the public till and hidden abroad in the late Abacha’s name by his successors.
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami and some senior government officials travelled to the U.S. where the tripartite agreement to repatriatec the cash was signed on Tuesday.
Al-Mustapha, who spoke on the Voice of America (VOA) Hausa Service monitored in Kaduna on Thursday, faulted the the story that millions of dollars were stashed in foreign banks by his late boss.
According to him, the late Gen. Abacha assumed leadership in Nigeria and found not more than $200 billion in Nigeria’s foreign reserve.
“But before Abacha died, our foreign reserve rose to over $900 billion,” Al Mustapha claimed, saying that the late Abacha had stepped on so many toes while he presided over Nigeria, the reason some people were so angry and could sponsor such kinds of lies against him.
He said: “All the money being repatriated were those stolen by some leaders who served after Abacha’s death.
“The late Abacha’s successors in the Presidential Villa were the thieves who stole the billions and hid the money elsewhere.
“I was forced to implicate the leadership of the defunct PTF under President Buhari then, during the military era.
“If there will be a genuine fight against corruption in Nigeria, many people will be arrested.”
