Nigeria's Quest to Recover Looted Assets: The Abacha Affair

Abstract

After a successful transition to democratic rule in 1999, Nigeria launched a high-profile campaign aimed at securing the repatriation of looted public funds being held in foreign banks. This campaign was championed by President Olusegun Obasanjo, a long-standing critic of corrupt military regimes and co-founder of the global anti-corruption NGO Transparency International, throughout his eight-year tenure. By the time Obasanjo left office in May 2007, he had secured the recovery of approximately 2 billion USD in assets and triggered some vital international initiatives against money laundering. However, his efforts were hampered by a combination of local and external obstacles. Externally, the campaign was marked by the absence of sufficient international political will. While at the domestic level, it was undermined by a lack of transparency, the excessive fixation with the Abacha loot, inadequate legal and accounting skills, the uncooperative attitude of accused persons and limited domestic political will. This paper illustrates how these issues have combined to frustrate moves to recover Nigeria's stolen billions sitting in the West.

Towards Attaining Sustainable Development Goals in a “Fantastically Corrupt” World: Issues in International Legal Framework on Mutual Legal Assistance for Recovery of Proceeds of Corruption and the Nigerian Act

“…The directive prohibited inflow of funds suspected of being proceeds of corruption and mandate banks to submit reports of any suspicious transactions. However, there are several developed nations where the banking regulation is yet to be reformed to prevent those states from being corruption haven (Enweremadu, 2013). Nations like United Kingdom, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein are within the categories.…”

Lavado de dinero y corrupción: necesidad de mayor investigación para un sustento empírico sólido

“…Segundo, David U. Enweremadu (2013) explica que los intentos por recuperar bienes malversados, como aquellos lanzados en Nigeria luego de la transición a la democracia en 1999, con el propósito de recuperar los fondos públicos en cuentas extranjeras, malversados por el régimen Abacha, son obstaculizados por la falta de voluntad política a nivel internacional y por una falta de capacidades legales y contables, así como también por la falta de voluntad política a nivel doméstico (Enweremadu, 2013, p. 51). Por último, años después, se advirtió sobre el riesgo presentado por el hecho de que varios parlamentarios investigados por la Comisión de Crímenes Financieros y Económicos, que lograron presentar estratagemas y dilaciones en sus procesos, pudieran participar activamente del proceso electoral y la elección presidencial programada para 2015, ya sea directamente o a través de terceros (Oji et ál., 2014, p. 207).…”

Immunity Clause under the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria: A Dire Need for Reform

“…It has rather become evil in Nigeria because it negates the will of the people. The volume of public funds looted in Nigeria by public officials, especially officials covered by the immunity clause is staggering, rising to over $100 billion (Enweremadu, 2013). Most of these monies cannot be recovered from the different jurisdictions where they were laundered, and the culprits have also absconded as fugitives to other countries (Enweremadu, 2013).…”

“…The volume of public funds looted in Nigeria by public officials, especially officials covered by the immunity clause is staggering, rising to over $100 billion (Enweremadu, 2013). Most of these monies cannot be recovered from the different jurisdictions where they were laundered, and the culprits have also absconded as fugitives to other countries (Enweremadu, 2013). The former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission boss Mr. Nuhu Ribadu pointed out corruption as one of the greatest challenges to successive Nigerian governments.…”