ABACHA DID NOT LOOT - MAJ. AL-MUSTAPHA

 

Former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, has described the raging noise about Abacha’s loot by successive governments as a hoax and deliberate attempt by some powerful individuals to smear his name even in death.

Al-Mustapha who made the declaration at a media interaction at the Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday, explained that the monies being talked about were kept in foreign accounts to stave off the threat of sanction against the then military government by the international community in order that Nigeria could remain afloat.

The decision to do this, he said, was taken after due consultations with the relevant stakeholders. “During the time of Abacha, sanctions were threatened upon Nigeria. And at the request of some notable Nigerians, including traditional rulers, key politicians, and businessmen from the North and South, some modalities were taken to allow some monies to be saved in some foreign accounts abroad so that when sanctions come, that money will be able to keep Nigeria afloat. At that time, Chief Tom Ikimi, was the foreign affairs minister.

“These stakeholders can still testify to what that money was meant for. And I can remember many of the big men who attended the Abuja meeting where this decision was taken. They were many that the council hall in the Villa could not contain them. There are many big men you can ask to get all these issues.

“The lodgments will show whether those monies were kept in his name before he became Head of State, and whether the monies were kept in his name after he became Head of State,” he added.
He accused those he described as untouchable Nigerians who Abacha had to deal with in the face of the mounting opposition against his government of being responsible for the smear campaign.

“Gen Abacaha is dead, but those on whose toes he had stepped upon decided to invest in smearing his name. In Nigeria, over the decades, there were some Nigerians who were bigger than the law, bigger than security agencies, bigger than government in Nigeria. But during Abacha’s tenure, in the course of trying to remove him from office violently, Abacha had to defend himself and he allowed the law to take its course. Some notable Nigerians were arrested, they were tried and they never took it in good faith. They have still not forgiven Abacha even at death,” he declared.

According to him, the establishment of PTF (Petroleum Trust Fund) still remains a good testimony of the vision and prudency Abacha brought into the management of the nation’s resources during his regime.

“A that time, oil was $7 yet policies were taken, including PTF so that Nigeria could grow. Little as I was then, I created PTF and it worked,” he said.

Al-Mustapha challenged former President Olusegun Obasanjo to explain to Nigeria what he did with over $7 billion left behind by the late Abacha.

DO YOU BELIEVE IT?