By Kolawole Ojebisi
Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer to the late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, has explained how Nigeria’s money purportedly got into various accounts in foreign climes under the leadership of the deceased dictator.
Al-Mustapha defended his deceased boss against claims bordering on kleptomania that has been in the public space for close to three decades.
The ex-CSO spoke in an interview with BBC on Thursday.
According to Al-Mustapha the money in question was used to support Nigerians during tough economic times.
“At that time, the government was running under a lot of hardship. There was no money. So, we went to Libya with several people to learn how they were surviving. Libya had faced sanctions for 11 years.”
He explained that after studying Libya’s system, the Abacha government introduced a policy that allowed Nigerian-owned companies to receive government support to buy goods and sell them to citizens at affordable prices.
“These were the things we copied, and by God’s grace, Nigerians were not crushed. But after Abacha died, some people didn’t return the money. Instead, they created many false stories against him,” he said.
“I don’t believe the money they say was returned to Nigeria was in Abacha’s name. The money was kept in national accounts to support this economic plan. Some returned it, others hid it.”
He questioned the allegations further by saying, “Did Abacha ever travel abroad? Were the funds found with his signature? Or did anyone catch him transferring money? No.”
Al-Mustapha’s defence came days after Abacha’s wife, Mariam, cleared his husband. of any impropriety during his reign.
Mariam, however, claimed that the money her late husband kept for Nigeria “disappeared”.
