The late military Head of State,
Gen. Sani Abacha, did not loot the national treasury contrary to the general
impression, two military former heads of state have said.
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, who ruled
Nigeria between 1983 and 1985, and his successor, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, gave
Abacha the clean bill in Kano yesterday after the remembrance prayers marking
10 years of the death of Abacha, who ruled between 1993 and 1998.
The comments by the two former
president of Nigerian came less than a week after Special adviser to the
current President on the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), Dr.
Tunji Olagunju, said that Nigeria lost about N3.5 trillion to corruption in the
last four decades, unveiling that corruption and money laundering have retarded
economic growth and development, as well as frustrate incentives on budgetary
allocation with development priority. Continue reading....
Just last week an umbrella of
opposition parties seeking to promote good governance and sustainable democracy
in the country challenged the ruling PDP to showcase its performance in the
last one year, insisting that President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration has
failed just like his predecessor Retired General Olusegun Obasanjo.
Gen Obasanjo and his club of hate-mongers and vengeance seekers were determined to re-write history by dismantling Mrs. Abacha’s genuine record of achievements within the five years she was destined to be Nigeria’s First Lady. Such was the ridiculous extent the former civilian dictator, clothed in a dubious democratic gown, could go to harass and discredit a woman, despite the attestable evidence of her incredible performance.
However, with the passage of time, Gen. Obasanjo’s monumental failure has turned the late Gen. Sani Abacha and his widow into overnight stars, instantly bringing back their achievements into our memories and overshadowing Obasanjo’s dismal performance within eight years, despite the biggest revenue level available to it.
Abacha was accused of stealing
nearly £5 billion while in office, out of which over $1 billion has reportedly
been recovered from various sources around the world.
But Babangida, who described
Abacha as a “courageous, loyal and honest military head of state who stood for
the unity and development of the country during his years in government”, has
dismissed the allegations.
He said the looting allegations
against Abacha were unfounded and baseless, stressing that “it is not true that
he looted public treasury. I knew who Abacha was because I was close to him”.
Babangida said: “Abacha was a
courageous person who stood firmly in handling the affairs of the country
during his regime.”
He added that the regime of
Abacha brought positive changes in the country which should have been emulated.
He said 10 years after the death
of Abacha, his contributions to the nation’s economy remain indelible.
“There is no doubt, during his
administration as head of state, Abacha contributed his best to the nation’s economy
which we are still enjoying,” he said.
Babangida’s new position however
contrasts with what he told Newswatch magazine in July 2000.
He had said: “The revelations [on
Abacha's loot] surprised me. I am surprised, because I didn’t know.”
He had also explained that
Abacha’s death brought “relative stability”, adding that “it gives us, oh well,
let’s see, there is hope after all”.
Babangida, in that interview,
also blamed the society for allowing Abacha to grow into the dictator he
became.
“I feel bad that society failed
to realise that they have a duty to protect whatever values they hold dear to
their hearts as far as this country is concerned. At any rate, there are people
I like and do respect those who stood against the regime, who are not military officers
but civilians who are able to speak out. They didn’t mince words and if their
views had been heard, he wouldn’t have [done enough harm],” he had said in
response to a question.
Buhari, in his own comments
yesterday, described the allegations of looting against Abacha as “baseless”,
because according to him, “ten years after Abacha, those allegations remain
unproven because of lack of facts”.
While also commenting, former
Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who took over when Abacha died on
June 8, 1998, commended his predecessor for initiating Vision 2010, saying that
the economic vision of the present administration termed Vision 2020 is a
replica of Abacha’s 2010 initiative.
Abubakar also tasked Nigerian
politicians to concentrate on how best to contribute to national development
instead wasting time and money investigating their predecessors, adding that
probing past administrations
“does not yield anything positive to the nation
and should be discouraged”.
Babangida also spoke on the probe
of his government by the immediate past administration, saying: “We are still
waiting for the outcome of the probe.”
The three former leaders sat
close to one another during the special prayer session which started exactly
10am and lasted for over one hour at an open compound belonging to the family
of the former head of state.
The prayer session was attended
by former Abacha’s aides, Emirs of Hadejia, Gumel, Jema’a and Chief Fredrick
Fasehun of Odua Peoples Congress (OPC).
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