Diversion of Abacha Loot: My role in disbursement of the fund - Okonjo-Iweala

Read the accusation here

The immediate past Minister of Finance, and coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has denied any involvement in the embezzlement of money meant for security in the country.

Tax, Federal Government, Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria economy

Okonjo-Iweala said attempt to link her name to any misuse of these funds for any purpose other than security as far as she understood it is totally false and cannot stand.

In a statement signed by her  Media Adviser, Paul C Nwabuikwu, she explained her role in the disbursement of the fund.

According to her, “throughout 2014, there were public complaints by the military hierarchy to President Goodluck Jonathan about the inadequacy of funds to fight the anti-terror war in the North East, resulting in Boko Haram making gains and even taking territories.  A lot of the criticism was directed at the Federal Ministry of Finance under Dr Okonjo-Iweala which was accused of not doing enough to find funds for the operations.

“In fact, the ministry, on several occasions, had to call press conferences to provide details of budgetary spending on the military, to show, against the background of limited resources and other urgent national priorities, that it was doing its best on funding security.

“It was about this time that some new Abacha funds of about $322 million were returned with another $700 million still expected to be returned. (This is not to be confused with the Abacha funds returned in 2005-2006 under the Obasanjo government whose use for developmental purposes was monitored by the World Bank as earlier explained by Dr Okonjo-Iweala).

“Former President Jonathan set up a committee comprising the former Minister of Justice, former NSA and the former Minister of Finance to determine how best to use both the returned  and expected funds for development.

“The NSA made a case for using the returned funds for urgent security operations since, he noted, there cannot be any development without peace and security. Based on this, a decision was taken to deploy about $322 million for the military operations, while the expected $700 million would be applied for development programmes as originally conceived.

“Following the discussions and based on the urgency of the NSA’s memo, Dr Okonjo-Iweala requested the President to approve the transfer of the requested amount to the NSA’s Office for the specified purposes.

“But, as captured in the memo, she insisted on three conditions: a. only a part, not the entire Abacha funds would be spent on the arms; the rest would be invested in developmental projects as originally conceived b. the money was to be treated as borrowed funds which would be paid back as soon as possible c. the NSA’s office was to account for the spending to the President who was the Commander in Chief, given the fact that the Minister of Finance is not part of the security architecture and does not participate in the Security Council.”

 

Diversion of Abacha Loot: My role in disbursement of the fund - Okonjo-Iweala

Abacha N65bn Loot: What we spent it for - Okonjo-Iweala

* Say it was spent on roads, electricity, others

LAGOS—Former Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told the World Bank that about $500 million (N65bn) recovered from the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha in Switzerland was spent in the 2004 and 2005 budgets on roads, electricity, education, water and health across all six geo-political zones of Nigeria.

Ngozi Okonjo Iweala

This was contained in the documents the World Bank sent to Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, following enquiries made by SERAP on how the money, tagged Abacha loot was spent.

A statement issued yesterday by SERAP executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni, said the organization has “received several documents from the World Bank totalling over 700 pages on information on the spending of recovered assets stolen by the late General Abacha, with some of the documents suggesting that the Abacha loot was spent on roads, electricity, education, health and water.”

The organisation said: “SERAP can confirm that last week we received several documents from Ann May of the Access to Information Team of the World Bank following our Access to Information Request to the Bank. We also received a letter dated 24 November 2015 from Mr Rachid Benmessaoud, Director of the World Bank in Africa.”

“In total, SERAP has received over 700 pages of documents, which we are now closely studying and scrutinising with a view to discovering whether the documents contain details that Nigerians would like to see and whether the information correspond to the facts on the ground. After this analysis, we will respond to the Bank and consider our options, including filing an appeal before the Bank’s Access to Information Appeals Board and taking other appropriate legal actions nationally and internationally to discover what exactly happened to Abacha recovered loot,” the organisation said.

The organisation said that “In the meantime our preliminary review of some of the documents and the letter from Mr Rachid Benmessaoud have revealed certain facts which raise more questions about what exactly happened to Abacha loot: First, that Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as Minister of Finance in a letter dated 9 January 2005 explained to the Bank that around $500m (N65bn) of Abacha loot received from Switzerland was programmed into and spent in the 2004 and 2005 budgets on roads, electricity, education, water and health across all six geo-political zones of Nigeria.”

“Second, Mrs Iweala explained to the Bank that N18.60bn was spent on roads; N10.83bn spent on health; N7bn spent on education; N6.20bn spent on water; and N21.70bn spent on electricity. She also said that part of the funds were spent on new and ongoing investment projects. Mrs Iweala said that relevant federal ministries have the full details on the spending of repatriated Abacha loot. The Bank noted that there was no funds monitoring and tracking mechanism in place to trace the spending of Abacha loot,” the organisation also disclosed.

“Third, Mr Rachid Benmessaoud confirmed that the World Bank played a monitoring role in a return of assets by Switzerland but that the Bank is not currently involved in the monitoring of spending of Abacha loot that have been returned to Nigeria in recent years. He said that the Bank would be prepared to set up a mechanism to monitor the use of Abacha loot if the Nigerian government request the Bank’s assistance in this respect.”

SERAP then argued that “given Mrs Okonjo-Iweala’s involvement in the spending of Abacha loot, President Muhammadu Buhari should urgently probe the role of the Ministry of Finance and relevant federal ministries at the time in the spending of Abacha loot particularly given the strong allegations of mismanagement that characterised the use of the funds”

According to the group, “Although Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said that Abacha loot was spent in the 2004 and 2005 budgets on roads, electricity, education, water and health across all six geo-political zones of Nigeria, there is no evidence of such projects as millions of Nigerians continue to travel on dead roads, while they continue to lack access to adequate electricity supply, water, health and quality education. Therefore, President Buhari can no longer continue to remain silent on this issue of public interest if Nigerians are to continue to trust him in his fight against corruption,” the organisation also said.

It will be recalled that in a letter dated 15 October 2015 and signed by Ann May of the Access to Information Team, the Bank said that “In response to your request under AI3982, we would like to inform you that we are still considering your request and need additional time to provide you with a more comprehensive response.”

The letter reads in part “In most cases, we will be able to respond within twenty (20) working days from receipt of a request for information. However, we may need additional time in special circumstances, for example, if the request is complex or voluminous or if it requires further review by or consultation with internal World Bank units, external parties, the Access to Information Committee, or the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors.”

Earlier, SERAP had on 21 September 2015 sent an access to information request to Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank Group urging him to “exercise the Bank’s prerogative to release documents relating to spending of recovered assets stolen by Late General Sani Abacha”.

The group also asked Mr Yong Kim to “disclose information about the Bank’s role in the implementation of any projects funded by the recovered assets and any other on-going repatriation initiatives on Nigeria with which the Bank is engaged.”

The request was “pursuant to the World Bank’s Access to Information Policy (The Policy), approved by the Board on June 30 205. SERAP notes that one of the Policy’s guiding principles is to maximize access to information. There is also clear public interest in Nigerians knowing about the Bank’s supervisory role and specifically its involvement in the implementation of projects on which repatriated funds were spent.”

Abacha N65bn Loot: What we spent it for - Okonjo-Iweala

I left N287bn Abacha loot in the treasury - Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said he left in the national treasury over N287bn, made up of $2bn, £100m and N10bn in cash and property, being the loot recovered from the late dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha.

Obasanjo

Obasanjo left office as President in 2007 after serving two terms of eight years and handed over to the now late former President Umaru Yar’Adua.

The N287bn figure was arrived at using an average exchange rate of N125.88 to a dollar in 2007 and an average exchange rate of N247.99 to a pound in the same year.

The former President said the funds were paid into the treasury through the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Obasanjo’s revelation was contained in the Vol. II of his memoir, My Watch. His take on the Abacha loot is slotted under the sub-heading “Recovery of looted funds” on pages 494 and 495.

He said, “In total, by the time I left government in May 2007, over $2bn and £100m had been recovered from the Abacha family abroad, and well over N10bn in cash and properties locally. All were paid to the public treasury through the Central Bank.

“Enrico (Monfrini, a Swiss lawyer) told me by the time I left government that if he continued to get support for his work, there was still about $1bn he believed he could still recover from the Abacha family and cronies.”

The former President said that there was a time he got a report that £3m cash was seized from an agent of the late military dictator by customs officials at an airport in UK and that the British authorities asked the Nigerian government to prove ownership of the money.

He said the British government however refused to release the money to Nigeria despite showing details that it was taken from the CBN.

“I went to London to have a meeting on another important issue with (former British Prime Minister) Tony Blair and I took the opportunity to raise the issue of the £3m, using the Yoruba anecdote of the thief who stole palm oil from the ceiling cupboard by getting somebody to help him so as not to spill the red palm oil on himself or the floor. The man who assisted became an accomplice. Tony got the message and the £3m was released to Nigeria the following day,” Obasanjo stated.

A former finance minister in the Obasanjo administration, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, told The PUNCH last year through her Special Adviser on Communication, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, that contrary to reports that the sum of $2bn was recovered from the Abacha’s loot, only $500m was recovered under her as Obasanjo’s finance minister.

The minister made the clarification amid differing figures on the actual amount recovered.

For example, the pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, had in November 2006, in London, said Abacha looted over $6bn from Nigeria and that $2bn of the loot had been recovered.

He mentioned same figure in the same month during the 12th International Anti-Corruption Conference in Guatemela and later in Dakar, Senegal, at the 2nd Annual High Level Dialogue on Governance and Democracy in Africa.

I left N287bn Abacha loot in the treasury - Obasanjo

How Nigerian government rewarded Abacha"s family for looting Nigeria

For allegedly helping their father plunder Nigeria of an estimated $5 billion in the 1990s, Mohammed and Abba Abacha, and other relatives of the late dictator, Sani Abacha, have been rewarded by the Nigerian government.

Sani Abacha

A secret deal between the government and the Abachas, wants the family to return part of the loot, in exchange for perpetual immunity against prosecution.

The deal, kept classified for months, was personally approved by President Goodluck Jonathan in July 2014, and jointly authored by the Attorney General, Mohammed Adoke.

The terms of the agreement, obtained by PREMIUM TIMES in March, have alarmed anti-corruption activists.

“The agreement is (also) a tragic triumph of impunity,” said The Berne Declaration, a Swiss nongovernmental organization, which for years has monitored efforts by the Nigerian government to recover hundreds of millions of dollars stashed by the former military ruler, and his family, in bank accounts across Europe, and America.

The agreement closes criminal proceedings for the plundering of the Nigerian treasury against the perpetrators and their accomplices, with the result that they go unpunished.

Foreign banks involved in the heist have also not been convicted of money laundering.

Worse, Swiss lawyers and other attorneys who helped facilitate the so-called out-of-court settlement, will pocket fees up to five per cent of all monies recovered from the family from banks in Switzerland and other countries. The government expressly agreed to pay one of the attorneys $28 million.

“This is all the more troubling because many of the banks involved have not been convicted of money laundering. It is equally incomprehensible that the Swiss lawyers involved may pocket up to 7 percent of the sum for their services, as this money belongs to the Nigerian population,” Berne Declaration said.

The base of the agreement is for the Abacha family to cooperate with federal authorities to have the stolen funds repatriated, in exchange for clemency.

On receipt of the assets, Nigeria will “end any and all legal proceedings and investigations against the settling parties (referring to the Abacha family)”.

The government will “recognise” properties owned by the family in Nigeria, the agreement says.

“The FRN (Federal Republic of Nigeria) will withdraw any and all civil proceedings against the settling parties,” one clause in the agreement states.

Another clause says, “The FRN will end, without any finding of liability or guilt, any and all proceedings of whatever kind including criminal, civil or administrative proceedings contemplated or pending in any court in Nigeria (including in relation to forfeiture and or restraint) relating to or arising out of any investigations into the resolved matter, …”.

“The FRN will provide to any government, authority or organisation, where necessary, information, clearance or such other documentation or support as may be required by any or all of the Settling Parties to ensure and guarantee unrestricted movement in and out of Nigeria or in any other state or country,” another clause adds.

As Nigeria’s military leader between 1993 and 1998, Mr. Abacha stashed away billions of dollars of public funds in various accounts abroad.

Transparency International estimates $5 billion was stolen.

The money include those in three accounts at HSBC Bank Plc, one in Standard Bank Plc in England; five accounts in Cítibank Private Bank of London; one account in Deutsche Bank International Ltd, in Jersey, United States; three accounts in Banque SBA SA and one in Standard Alliance Corporation in France.

There are also funds in nine accounts in Luxemburg and Liechtenstein totaling about $248.64 million and Euros179.14 million, which was transferred to the Bank for International Settlements (BI) in 2014.

In June 2014, Liechtenstein agreed to return $227m, while the U.S. froze some $458m hidden by Abacha in bank accounts.

Switzerland had earlier returned some $700m. By March 2015, the country agreed to return a further $380m.

The recovery of the money had been blocked by legal action brought by companies linked to members of the Abacha family.

The government’s initial charges against Abacha’s oldest son, Mohammed Abacha, was for unlawfully receiving government money from his father.

The Nigerian government agreed to the secret deal as a sort of plea bargain, to have the Abacha family drop its case, and allow the money to be repatriated.

Geneva prosecutors had also closed their own case against the Abacha.

Anti-corruption activists argue that granting immunity to those who helped in stealing the country blind will only embolden others to do worse.

They also question why the Nigerian government failed to lay clearly as part of the agreement how recovered money will be applied from the benefit of Nigerians.

“The agreement between Nigeria and the Abacha family, approved by the Public Prosecutor in Geneva, does not contain a single provision to ensure that the returned money will be of benefit to the Nigerian people from whom it was stolen in the nineties and who continue to suffer endemic corruption,” Bernes Declaration said.

“The entire arrangement is questionable,” said David Ugolor of the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice. “We must let Switzerland see the need to suspend further decision on the return of the money stolen by Abacha until all the terms are clearly established in a manner that would really benefit Nigerians.”

Anchored by Attorney General Adoke, the agreement compels the Federal Government to withdraw all pending cases against any member of the Abacha family at home and abroad, while all organs of government, including the National Assembly, were barred from asking questions with the intention of recovering the stolen wealth.

Also, the deal forbids the government from taking any action to limit the constitutional rights, including freedom of movement of the Abachas within and outside Nigeria and right to property, in connection with the theft.

Mohammed and Abba Abacha represented the Abacha family in the negotiations, which also involved international brokers.

Mr. Adoke represented Nigeria on the instructions of President Jonathan.

“I hereby confirm that the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke SAN CFR, has full authority to contract in that capacity in relation to the Repatriation Agreement between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Alhaji Mohammed Sani Abacha and Alhaji Abba Abacha,” the president wrote.

As part of the agreement, Nigeria will pay four per cent of the sums recovered and repatriated to Nigeria to Swiss agent, Enrico Monfrini of Monfrini, Crettol & Associe, which also entitled to another $5 million for litigation expenses.

Another 2.8 percent of the recovered or repatriated sum was agreed to be paid Christian Luscher of CMS Von Erlach Poncet Ltd (subject to a cap of $28million), while the Abacha are expected to settle the legal fees of their appointed agent, Nicola Boulton, of Byrne and Partners of London.

DOWNLOAD FULL AGREEMENT HERE.

This allegation have not been confirmed by NAIJA CENTER NEWS. Questions and request for details should be directed to premiumtimes who is the original author of this post.

How Nigerian government rewarded Abacha"s family for looting Nigeria

Swiss govt to help Nigeria reclaim Abacha’s $370m loot in Luxembourg – Ambassador

ABUJA – Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Hans Rodulf Hodel, Monday, revealed that a new loot of $370 million traced to the former Military Head of State, late Sani Abacha has been discovered in Luxembourg, saying that his country would be eager to help Nigeria reclaim the money if the authorities make a formal request for it.

Sani Abacha

Hodel also said that Swiss government has strengthened the country’s monetary policies to discourage deposits of ill-gotten money from foreign countries in its banks.

The ambassador spoke to Journalists yesterday when he paid a congratulatory visit to Nigeria’s president-elect, General Mohammadu Buhari in Abuja.

He added that Swiss laws would help Nigeria and other countries fight corruption.

He said, “This is a long standing issue. Our laws are there to help all countries which are fighting corruption. We will help this government. If you remember, many years ago we gave back the Abacha money to Nigeria. The situation in Switzerland has changed. The policy is no longer the same. In the past, people came to deposit money in Switzerland without too much controversy.

“Now, it is not possible to deposit money in Switzerland because of legal origin. Before the bank has to prove that the money is illegal. But now, before you deposit money in Swiss bank, you have to prove that you have earned that money legally.

“If you are a wealthy businessman, you have money in billions legally, but if, for example as a Journalist, you come to Switzerland with two million dollars and say you earned it because you did a very good job, nobody will believe you.

“There was another request by Nigeria to the Swiss authority to look for Abacha money and some amount, 370 million dollars, has been found in an account, but in Luxembourg. That is now between the Abacha family and the government. They have tried to find a deal so that this money can also come back.”

Asked how soon the money would be released, the ambassador said it would only be when the Nigerian government makes official request for assistance.

“The Swiss government is not involved. The Nigerian government has asked for legal assistance. When the government makes a request to my government, we work together on it. But this case is different. That is the Abacha family directly with the Nigerian government finding a deal.

“So, the Swiss government is not involved and the money is in Luxembourg. They have asked for legal assistance and we have provided the with this information. If is not a classical case and we would have preferred a classical case where we can give the money back and make sure that if is used in the interest of the people. Now it is up to the Nigerian government”, he said.

Also speaking, the Cuban Ambassador to Nigeria, Carlos Trejo Sosa who was also at the Defence House to congratulate Buhari said that Nigeria and Cuba share understanding in the area of health.

“First of all, Cuba’s collaboration with African countries is not new and not difficult. If you remember, a large number of Cuba people as doctors came to West Africa to fight Ebola, the first contingent of doctors. We have doctors in almost all African countries, about six thousands Cuba doctors working in Africa.

“We also have about 50,000 doctors working in Latin America and in some other places. So, it means that if requested by Nigerian government, we can come and share our experiences about the comprehensive system of health care. Cuba is not known to kill people but to prevent people from been sick”, he said.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s oil business mogul, Prince Arthur Eze has said that most of oil companies which left the country because of harsh business environment would come back to resume business in Nigeria.

Eze who also felicitated with Buhari on his electoral victory in the company of the Managing Director, Total Upstream Company, Elisabeth Proust remarked that it was the Will of God for Buhari to became president of Nigeria at this time.

He said that Buhari with his vast experience in the Petroleum industry would fix Nigeria’s oil sector.

“We are glad that General Buhari is one of the most discipline leader that we have in Africa and particularly in Nigeria. He is going to organize this country so that you will see all these poor people again. Things will change in this country. It is God that Is giving power, and God has giving it to Buhari.

“He is coming to change our economy especially the oil sector. As you can see, most of the oil companies who left Nigeria are now coming back.

“You know General Buhari has been President of Nigeria and also a former oil minister, he know the oil industry very well, he is a man who has ability to take a decision. He has been in the system for a very long time, that is why God brought him back. Everyone of us is supporting him because God has giving him power”, Eze said.

 

Swiss govt to help Nigeria reclaim Abacha’s $370m loot in Luxembourg – Ambassador

Swiss to return $380m looted by late Abacha and family

Swiss officials have said the $380m siphoned off by the family of the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, and confiscated by the Geneva authorities, will be returned to Nigeria. The amount is about N75.2bn at N198/dollar interbank rate.

The file on the matter, opened since 1999, would be closed, the officials said in a statement on the website of the Geneva public prosecutor’s office.

According to the office, the move comes now that Nigeria and the Abacha family have struck a deal.

The Federal Government has long been chasing funds looted by the Abacha clan while the matriach was in power from 1994 to 1998.

The prosecutor’s office said overall, the Abacha clan was thought to have diverted about $5bn from the Nigerian treasury, adding that much of it ended up abroad.

“The $380m in question was seized in Luxembourg in 2006 on the orders of the Geneva justice authorities. The funds were under the control of various companies controlled by the Abacha family, which is considered a criminal organisation,” the prosecutor’s office said in the statement.

It said the repatriation and confiscation of the funds followed the conclusion of an agreement in July 2014 between the Federal Government and the Abacha family. This, it added, set out the confiscation of the assets and their return to Nigeria. The Federal Government would drop its complaint against Abba Abacha, the son of the former ruler.

According to the prosecutor’s office statement, the confiscation order “allows, among other things, that the funds returned to the Federal Republic of Nigeria are monitored by the World Bank,” and if the monitoring is not effective, the funds will be returned to the Geneva authorities.

The statement also said that the file against Abba Abacha was now closed, based on an article in the penal code, which allowed criminal proceedings to be abandoned once the defendant had made amends as much as was possible.

In 2012, after a legal back and forth, the Geneva Police Court gave Abba Abacha a one-year suspended prison sentence for belonging to a criminal organisation.

Abba was absent from the court room. The Federal Court in Lausanne, Switzerland’s highest instance, quashed the sentence in May 2014.

Swiss to return $380m looted by late Abacha and family

Outcome of Abacha, Jonathan close door meeting

By Ehi Ekhator, Naija Center News

The Son of the former head of state, Mohammed Abacha met the Nigeria President, Goodluck Jonathan behind close door on Friday as the party prepare for its gubernatorial primaries on Monday.

President Jonathan

Speculators say that the meeting was to strategise for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in order to triumph over its main opposition, All Progressives Congress (APC).

Last year June, despite the N446 billion  corruption charges against the son of the late Abacha, the Federal Government intentionally dropped all charges and supported his governorship candidacy in Kano.

Speculators say that the PDP took the big step due to Mohammed popularity in Kano, which means he could be able to dislodge the APC candidate backed by Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso from the state with his influence

Though Abacha did not disclose the discussion had with the President, but he was confident to tell the State House corespondent that he is sure PDP would defeat APC in Kano.

It could be recalled that Kwankwaso became the governor of Kano under PDP before defecting to APC with the other governors. Well, Muhammed said while addressing the journalists that Kano was stolen from PDP and his party is on the way to recover its stolen mandate.

He seems to be very sure he would win the gubernatorial flag bearer of the party

“We are hopeful; I wouldn’t want to say too much. I said it before that it was a PDP state; it was a PDP ticket. It was taken or converted or even stolen; whatever you want to call it, so be it. The chances of the PDP are still bright. He said.

Due to Nigerians reaction to the unexpected withdrawal of all charges against Muhammad Abacha, the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, justified the nolle proseque granted, saying it was done for the interest of the country and not for political reasons.

The government had preferred the nine-count charge of stealing against him in February 2014, claiming that the amount was stolen from its coffers between 1995 and 1998.

But during its withdrawal of the case against Abacha, the government urged the court to strike out the case since it had since discovered “fresh facts” on the matter.

Nigerian lawyer rose against the administration over the matter but it refused to budge.

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Outcome of Abacha, Jonathan close door meeting

Non-service of court processes stalls Abacha’s son’s suit

The arraignment of Mohammed Abacha, by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation was stalled on Thursday, due to non-service of charges on the defence counsel.

Abacha Mohammed

Mohammed was to be arraigned before Justice Mamman Kolo of an FCT High Court on charges of receiving stolen property worth N100.38bn.

The property was said to be owned by his late father, Gen Sani Abacha, which was later forfeited to the Federal Government

In his submission, Counsel for Abacha, Mr Abdullahi Haruna, told the court that he got to know about the arraignment ‘by accident”.

“My lord, we are not aware of this arraignment because we were not served with hearing notice, charge sheet and witness statements on oath,” he said.

Earlier, counsel to AGF, Mr Daniel Enwelum, told the court the court that the matter was for arraignment of Abacha but he was not in court.

“My Lord, we served the accused with the hearing notice and notice for amendment of the charge.

“The accused is not here to take his plea,” he said.

Justice Kolo then ordered the prosecution to duly serve the accused’s counsel with court processes.

He fixed April 29, for arraignment.

In another development, Kolo also granted the application for amendment of charge which was filed by the prosecution to

withdraw the name of a businessman, Atiku Bagudu from the case.

Bagudu was to be arraigned alongside Abacha on the same charge.

Bagudu’s counsel, Mr Rickey Tarfa,SAN, had applied to court to withdraw the name of the client on the charge sheet.

The AGF counsel did not object.

Non-service of court processes stalls Abacha’s son’s suit