Al-Mustapha: I was Forced To Implicate Buhari; Thieves Succeeded Abacha

By Charles Igbo

From the stable of  Major  Hamza Al-Mustapha, rtd, the  once powerful Chief Security Officer to late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, comes this stunner.

Al-Mustapha, described by many as Abacha’s Alter ego, has just dropped the news that his former boss, Abacha,was not a thief. Instead, he insists, the thieves were his successors in office.

According to him, Nigerians have been deceived into believing that the money stolen from Nigeria’s treasury, stashed abroad, and  being repatriated to Nigeria, was stolen by Abacha.

Speaking on the Voice of Nigeria, VOA,  Hausa Service, on the back-drop of the expected return, to Nigeria, of the over 300 million USD, from New Jersey, US, part of the billions, stolen by his former boss, Al-Mustapha disclosed that the monies were stolen by those who succeeded him, after his sudden death, and stashed away same in his name.

He, also, disclosed that he was forced, after Abacha’s death, to implicate the now defunct General Muhammadu Buhari-led Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF.

AI-Mustapha: “I was forced to implicate the leadership of the defunct PTF, under  President Buhari then, during the Military era.”

Recall that at a point after Abacha’s death, and the scrapping of the PTF, rumours were rife that the activities of the Fund, as they related to Consultants, were untidy.

On the famed Abacha loot, for which Nigerians are jokingly thanking Abacha “for always coming to the country’s rescue  by issuing fat cheques to it from the graveyard, the former CSO dismissed it as a lie from the pit of hell, thus giving his boss a clean bill. He said it was those who took over after his boss’ death that looted the money, transferred, and stashed same in foreign accounts, using his name.

Al-Mustapha: ” When Abacha assumed the leadership of the country, he found not more than 200 billion dollars in the country’s foreign reserve.

“But before Abacha died, our foreign reserve rose to over 900 billion dollars. But because he stepped on many toes, all kinds of lies are being sponsored against him.

“All the money being repatriated were those stolen by some leaders who served after Abacha’s death.

“The late Abacha’s successors in the Presidential Villa were the thieves who stole the billions and hid the money elsewhere “.

While wishing for a true fight against corruption, he said: “If there will be a genuine fight against corruption in Nigeria, many people will be arrested”.

But not a few Nigerians have dismissed Al-Mustapha’s story as hog-wash.

A lawyer, Johnson Inyang, said the former CSO’s story is fit only for the marines. “Let him tell this story to the marines. Those who  interviewed him must have had a good laugh. How is it possible that the international community and financial institutions world-wide, who knew of Abacha’s death, would agree to open accounts for others in his name? How were they going to withdraw the money.

Definitely, Mustapha is talking nonsense”.

Since the Presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo till date, Nigerian leaders have been in the battle to repatriate billions of dollars stolen during the Abacha  regime.

In the instant case, the move to repatriate it began during the Goodluck Jonathan era.

The state of New Jersy has warned that Nigeria would be made to pay back the money if not put into good use.

The Nigerian government has disclosed the loot would be used for the completion of three projects – the second River Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan express way and, the Abuja – Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road.