BY DAYO ADESULU
Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has tasked the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami to exposed the tripartite agreement he intended signing with the Island of Jersey and the U.S. for repatriation of Abacha looted assets.
It said this is necessary because, on behalf of Nigeria, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami is expected to sign the tripartite agreement with the Island of Jersey and the U.S. for repatriation of the looted assets.
Besides, CISLAC is equally calling on the Federal Government to make full disclosure of the infrastructural project it reportedly funded by the past repatriated Abacha’s loots.
The centre, in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday,
Executive Director, CISLAC, Auwal Musa-Rafsanjani, in Abuja on Tuesday demanded full disclosure of the contractual agreement deals to be funded by the recoveries.
He said: ”The call is paramount owning to a just-announced landmark agreement among the Federal Government, the Island of Jersey and the U.S. for the repatriation of assets looted by the late Head of State Sani Abacha.
”The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami is expected to sign the tripartite agreement with the Island of Jersey and the U.S. for repatriation of the looted assets.
”The contractual agreement and arrangement of the deals and projects to Nigerians were necessary to prevent re-looting and misuse of the recovered assets.
“We are awaiting full disclosure of the details of the deals such as the infrastructure projects for Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Abuja-Kano road and the 2nd Niger Bridge, reported to be funded by these repatriated assets.
“We urge the government to comply with the 10 Global Forum for Asset Recovery (GFAR) principles assigned by the Government of Nigeria in 2017 in Washington.
“Particularly, the Transparency and Accountability principle; the Nigerian public, through independent and competent civil society, be given unrestricted access to the contractual arrangement agreement.
“The public has the right to know how these infrastructure projects were selected, which party will oversee the procurement, how the quality of the work will be verified and all other relevant details.”
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Musa-Rafsanjani maintained that the demand for full disclosure of the project was also in line with the GFAR principle five on beneficiaries.
According to him, the recovery of stolen assets should benefit the strictly the victims of the corrupt practice.
He posited that the principle of preclusion of benefits to offenders must prevent corrupt individuals from benefiting from the repatriation of the assets.
Musa-Rafsanjani suggested that the media, competent civil society organisations and non-governmental organizations should be formally invited to independently observe and supervise the utilisation of the assets.
”Government should continue to push for reforms that would lead to the establishment of an accountable and transparent monitoring framework for recovered loots.
”This was the only way domestic and international recoveries could be channelled towards the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals and other initiatives targeting the most vulnerable in the society,” Musa-Rafsanjani said.
