The Federal Government of Nigeria says it has so far disbursed over $76.5 million recovered from the loot of deceased former Head of State, General Sani Abacha to address the plight of the poor and less privileged in the country.

The Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments, Mrs. Maryam Uwais stated this while delivering an address at the Training on Illicit Funds seminar in Abuja. 

Mrs. Uwais said from the August 2018 to the October 2019 payment cycle, the total amount disbursed by the Federal Government from the Abacha loot was $76,538,530.

Uwais said the funds were specifically being disbursed to beneficiaries of the National Cash Transfer Programme, a component of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), noting that the gesture was positively changing the fortunes of many Nigerians.

She said the decision to distribute the Abacha loot to poor and vulnerable Nigerians who were painstakingly collated by the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office was reached between the Swiss government, the World Bank and the Federal Government.

This, she said was aimed at ensuring that the funds were well utilized and not diverted to private pockets as was the case in the past.

“In December 2014, a Swiss judge gave a forfeiture order to the effect that the money ($322.5 million) so far recovered from Abacha’s family would be returned to Nigeria, one of the conditions being that the World Bank would be involved in monitoring disbursements.

“Presumably, this was as a consequence to the opaqueness that surrounded the application of recovered funds,” Uwais said.