The federal government has told Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), that it has no record of how $5 billion recovered loot of public funds stolen by former military head of State, Sani Abacha, was spent between 1999 and 2015.

The government also said it does not have the record of the exact amount of money stolen by Abacha.

The government’s response followed SERAP’s Freedom of Information (FoI) requests, sent to Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abukabar Malami and Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, requesting “Information on the exact amount of public funds stolen by Abacha, and details of spending of about $5 billion recovered loot since the return of democracy in 1999.

According to SERAP, only Malami has sent a reply to its FOI requests, in which he said the information on the exact amount of public funds stolen by Abacha and how recovered loot was spent from 1999–2015 is not held by the Ministry.
It would be recalled that SERAP’s FOI requests expressed concerns that substantial part of the estimated $5 billion returned Abacha loot since 1999 may have been diverted, re-stolen or mismanaged, and in any case remain unaccounted for.