Coalition loses suit on returned $300m Abacha loot

A coalition of PPP Advisories Consortium, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre and Issa Shuaib has lost a suit against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN, on the Monitoring of the $300 million loot recovered from late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

The presiding Judge of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, Justice Ekwo, dismissed the suit filed by PPP Advisories Consortium, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, and Issa Shuaib for becoming statute barred when filed.

Justice Ekwo, in his judgment, declared that all public documents presented in evidence  by the plaintiffs were substantive, noting that they contravene sections 102, 103, 104 and 105 of Evidence Act of 2011, and therefore, of no probative value.

The federal government in 2020, acknowledging the repatriation of the $300 million Abacha loot from the United Kingdom (UK), declared that the fund would be deployed for the completion of the Second Niger Bridge, the Abuja – Kano dualisation and the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway. About one year after, none of these projects have been completed and the returned $300 million have been disbursed, while the federal government is still seeking more loans for same projects.

Justice Ekwo threw out the suit on technical grounds that the suit had become statute barred being filed outside the legally stipulated three months.