Abacha loot: Courts, SERAP are stupid, ignorant –Obj

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has stated that those asking him to account for the recovered Abacha loot are stupid, and ignorant of how the process works.

The former president stated that his job was to facilitate the release of the funds from wherever they were hidden, and not to follow up on how, or what it was used for after it came back to Nigeria.

According to him, those who want to know how the money was spent should ask the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the Finance minister.

Obasanjo was obviously referring to a recent ruling procured by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) from the court Hon Justice M.B. Idris of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos which ordered successive administrations since the return of democracy in the country in 1999, to give full account of all recovered stolen funds, and what they were used for.

But Obasanjo in an interview over the weekend, said “They said the money recovered from Abacha, I should account for it. What stupidity! The man who asked for it, the man who gave the judgment or who answered them are all stupid, with due respect.

“I don’t keep account, all Abacha loots were sent to Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and every bit of it was reported to Minister of Finance. My job was to write where we can get help to recover the money. Olusegun Obasanjo.

“Every penny that comes out of it went to CBN, so if they want to know what happened to the money, they should call CBN governor or call the Minister of Finance.

Read also: Obj, Yar’Adua, Jonathan must account for recovered loot, Court says

“But again, it shows ignorance, total ignorance, which is lacking and you wonder, are these people educated? They can also approach the man who helped us in recovering process to give the list of money recovered and where he took it.”

The former president also justified President Muhammadu Buhari’s frequent trips abroad that “He (Buhari) needs to be known and to know people. How do you make friends and influence people except you know them and this cannot happen if he sits in Aso Villa, especially in a situation that we found ourselves, a situation where we have bad image in the world, a situation where we need to play leadership role, especially in Africa, because during Jonathan’s administration, Nigeria was not on the table.”

Also speaking on the fluctuating price of crude oil in the international market, Obasanjo said “What Buhari is doing currently is preparing ground for Nigeria to take advantage when it goes up again.”

 

 

 

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