Abacha loot: World Bank seeks more time to give details of Expenditure

The World Bank has again asked for more time to release details of how the Nigerian government spent recovered Sani Abacha loot.

This followed the bank’s decision to refer “portion of appeal by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to the Bank Archives Unit for processing for public access”.

In a letter dated 8 August 2016 and sent to SERAP, the World Bank said, “In response to your request under AI4288, we would like to inform you that we are working on your request as referred to the Archives by the Access to Information Committee in its decision on the appeal and need additional time to provide a more comprehensive response. We regret any inconvenience for this delay”.

This development was disclosed Tuesday in a statement by SERAP executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni.

The World Bank’s request for more time followed the appeal SERAP lodged with the Bank on February 5, on the ground that the Bank’s decision on its initial request did not reveal “important portions of the information requested on how Abacha loot was spent”.

This is the second time the World Bank is asking for additional time to provide SERAP with details of spending of Abacha loot.

The bank, in a letter dated October 15 and signed by Ann May of the Access to Information Team, said that “In response to your request under AI3982, we would like to inform you that we are still considering your request and need additional time to provide you with a more comprehensive response”.

SERAP said: “The portion of the appeal which the Bank has now referred to its Archives Unit for public access include information on: evidence and list of the 23 projects allegedly completed with recovered Abacha loot, and whether the 23 projects where actually completed; and what became of the 2 abandoned projects; evidence and location of the 8 health centers built with recovered Abacha loot reviewed by the World Bank; and evidence and location of the 18 power projects confirmed by the World Bank.”

“Other aspects of the spending of Abacha loot the Bank referred to its Archives Unit for processing for public access are: information on: how the $50mn Abacha loot received before 2005 kept in the special account was spent; evidence and location of schools which benefited from the Universal Basic Education (UBE) program in the amount of NGN24.25bn; and evidence and location of the 13 road projects completed with the recovered Abacha loot, including the names of the 3 of the largest road and bridge projects in each geo-political zone.”