Lawyer accuses Dasuki, Okonjo-Iweala of diverting N7.5b Abacha loot

chika ebuzor

January 25, 2016 2:21 AM

The human rights lawyer also said the action of the former National Security adviser, and his accomplices, amount to crimes against humanity.

Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has accused former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, and ex finance minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of diverting funds recovered from Abacha’s loot

According to Punch, Falana stated this in his petition to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda.

Falana in his petition, asked the court to investigate the alleged $2.1b arms purchase scandal.

Punch reports that he also alleged that “the sum of $322m and £5.5m from the money stolen and stashed abroad by the late Gen. Sani Abacha, allegedly transferred to Dasuki by a former Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to prosecute the war on terror, had been illegally diverted.”

The sum of $322m and £5.5m, going by the rate of N198 to a dollar and N214.70 to a Euro, amounts to N7,547,557,636.

An excerpt of his petition to the ICC reads “On account of the deliberate refusal of the former military authorities to equip and motivate the members of the armed forces involved in combat operations, the insurgents have killed about 25,000 soldiers and civilians including children and displaced over 2,000,000 people.

“The ICC needs to urgently commence an investigation proprio motu on the allegations of the criminal diversion of the security funds of $2.1bn and N643bn earmarked by suspected perpetrators, with a view to determining whether these amount to crimes against humanity within the Court’s jurisdiction.”

Read: Human rights lawyer wants Buhari to release Dasuki, Kanu

The International Criminal Court (ICC), governed by the Rome Statute, is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.

The ICC is an independent international organisation, and is not part of the United Nations system.

chika ebuzor