…As Ango Abdullahi meets Obasanjo over 2019 polls, killings***

A human rights advocacy group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, has advised the Federal Government against sharing the recovered $350m (about N115bn) Sani Abacha loot among households in 19 states across the country.

According to the group, the Federal Government plans to share the recovered N115bn among 300,000 households in 19 states with each getting N5,000.

But in a statement on Sunday by its Deputy Director, Timothy Adewale, SERAP contended that the planned spending was not only ill-advised but also discriminatory against citizens in the 17 excluded states.

The group contended that apart from the fact that the N5,000 would not make any significant impact on the lives of the beneficiaries, the planned sharing was also subject to abuse by state governors who might ensure that only their acolytes benefit.

SERAP said rather than share the N115bn among households, the money should be spent on education, health care and provision of social amenities, especially water.

It advised the Federal Government to get funds for its National Social Safety Net Programme from another source.

SERAP said, “The authorities should do the right thing with the returned loot and show Nigerians that they can properly and efficiently invest the funds in projects that would provide tangible benefits to the victims of corruption who are the socially and economically vulnerable sectors of the population.

“The authorities can use the loot to fund universal health care programme and a tuition assistance programme that would provide post-secondary/university education scholarships to young Nigerians from poor families and who would otherwise lack the resources to carry out their studies.

“In any case, sharing the returned loot to households in 19 states because the remaining 17 state governments have not yet put in place the appropriate platform through which to implement the NAASP is both unfair and discriminatory.

“The planned distribution is also vulnerable to abuse and corruption by state governors, who may push for the funds to be given to their supporters and thus used for parochial and political purposes. The proper and efficient spending of recovered funds is key for development and can support efforts to combat grand corruption.

“Spending returned looted funds offers an opportunity to right wrongs committed by corrupt officials, rebuild public trust, and invest in the development of communities most affected by grand corruption in the country to improve the prospects for meeting many of the Sustainable Development Goals.

“It is important for the authorities to ameliorate the plight of communities that have borne the brunt of years of grand corruption by providing genuine opportunities for the socially and economically vulnerable sectors for personal development, and access to essential services as well as promoting the rule of law particularly by enforcing the judgment by Justice Idris.”

In the meantime, the spokesman for the Northern Elders Forum, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, has met with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his home in Abeokuta, Ogun State, to strategise for the 2019 presidential election.

The meeting, which held last Thursday between the NEF Chairman, Ango Abdullahi, and Obasanjo, was meant to agree on a possible consensus candidate, a source informed The PUNCH on Sunday.

It was learnt that the parley, which also had in attendance two other NEF members, deliberated about a suitable northern candidate that could attract massive support from all parts of the country in the 2019 elections.

It was learnt that the meetings were parts of the moves to unite elders of the six zones in the country to present a common front in the 2019 presidential election.

Investigations showed that the meetings were also aimed at proffering solutions to security challenges in the country.

The PUNCH gathered that the participants discussed the future of the country under a dynamic leader and how the NEF could partner other stakeholders across the country to ensure the election of a new candidate other than President Muhammadu Buhari.

The source said, “Ango Abdullahi actually visited Obasanjo in Abeokuta along with two other men. Their discussion, as you rightly guessed, bordered on the 2019 elections and the need to field a dynamic candidate who would be acceptable to the North and other regions of the country because the North is no longer comfortable with the current leadership.”

Also, a top politician who wished to remain anonymous said Abdullahi had another meeting with some elders of the pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere.

He said, “Ango Abdullahi has met with Obasanjo and Afenifere as part of the efforts to save this country. They discussed 2019 elections and the recent killings which have mostly affected Nigerians living in the North.

“I think there is a general agreement that things are not going fine and something needs to be done because both North and South are feeling the effects of the bad governance.”

When contacted, Abdullahi said he attended both meetings alone. In a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday, he said the meetings were parts of consultations ahead of the 2019 general elections.

Although he declined to go into details of the separate meetings, he said issues such as Nigeria’s security and events leading up to the 2019 general elections formed part of discussions.

In response to a question on the essence of the meeting he held with the former President, Abdullahi said, “I just wanted to see him (Obasanjo). Before then, I also met with elders of Afenifere; it is already in the papers.”

Asked what the essence of the meeting was, he simply said, “Consultations.”

He was asked if he was running for the Presidency, he responded, “I am not. I did in the past when I was much younger. I am an old man now. I don’t think I can stand the rigours of the office of the President. I have passed that age now. We are just making consultations around the country.”

When he was asked if the consultations had anything to do with the 2019 elections, he said, “Yes, it does. A lot of things were discussed including 2019; we talked about all sorts of things that have to do with the security of Nigeria and all that. Thank you.”

Punch