Court documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES reveal that contrary to the denial of the Buhari administration, it actually approved the transfer of $110 million to Bagudu, who was Abacha’s primary money launderer.
Despite attempts by the Muhammadu Buhari administration to deny the transfer of $110 million stolen from Nigeria’s treasury by late military tyrant, Sani Abacha, to Mr Abacha’s most profligate money launderer and current governor of Kebbi State, Abubakar Bagudu, United States court papers obtained by PREMIUM TIMES show that the administration signed two agreements with Mr Bagudu that effectively sealed the transfer of the money to the governor.
One of the agreements, signed on October 26, 2018, was an amendment of a 2003 agreement signed between the Bagudu family and the Nigerian government to settle all of Mr Bagudu’s civil claim against Nigeria and all of Nigeria’s civil claim, administrative, and criminal claims against Mr Bagudu for helping Mr Abacha to launder the funds.
Mr Malami on Friday released a statement that apparently sought to obfuscate the government’s agreement to pay Mr Bagudu $110 million with a different portion of the Abacha loot recently repatriated to Nigeria from the Island of Jersey. Funds held in Blue Holdings trusts are believed to be part of Nigeria’s commonwealth Mr Bagudu laundered for Mr Abacha. The contested funds are different from the $300 million Abacha loot recently repatriated to Nigeria after a tripartite agreement between Nigeria, Jersey and the United States, although it was repatriated from the accounts of one of Mr Bagudu’s money laundering vehicles, Doraville properties domiciled at Deutsche Bank in Jersey.
Nigeria claimed that the judgement exposed Nigeria to the payment of an amount equivalent to any amount as may be forfeited to the United States.The Buhari administration did not appeal the judgement obtained by Mr Bagudu from the UK court. Instead, it quickly devised a plan, using the 2018 agreement, to transfer $110 million to Mr Bagudu and his brother, Ibrahim.
The parties to the 2018 Amended Agreement argued that the payment of the money would satisfy Mr Bagudu’s default judgement against Nigeria for breaching the 2003 Settlement Agreement. “Surely it is relevant that the settlement agreement has been amended to declare just the opposite that Nigeria owns the assets,” the court said.
In the application which demanded the court to reconsider its decision to unseal the 2018 Agreement, Nigeria through its counsel, Anthony Egbase, argued that unsealing the agreement without reference to the 2003 agreement “paints an incomplete and misleading picture and subjects Nigeria to unwarranted prejudice.”
The contentious assets are proceeds of what the U.S. believes to criminal activity and not legitimate assets owned offshore.
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