US embassy cable - 02ABUJA1028

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001028 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
LONDON, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER; RIYADH FOR HANKS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: Decl: 03/26/2012 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, EFIN, NI 
SUBJECT: ABACHA LOOT: GON AND FAMILY SAID CLOSE TO 
AGREEMENT 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR HOWARD F. JETER.  REASON: 1.5(D) 
 
 
1.  (U) According to some newspaper reports, the 
family of the late General Sani Abacha has agreed to 
return to the GON approximately USD 1.2 billion.  The 
media accounts are not clear on whether this sum 
consists entirely of "new" money or might include 
certain amounts frozen earlier but subject to 
ownership litigation. 
 
 
2.  (C) According to a well-informed contact from Kano 
who cited Abacha's younger brother Kadiri as his 
source, the talks began soon after the Obasanjo 
Government assumed power, with once-and-present 
Attorney-General Godwin Kanu Agabi in the lead for the 
GON.  Representing the Abachas were Sokoto politician 
and former Presidential aspirant Umaru Shinkafi, 
Abacha-era Minister Muhammad Kaloma Ali and Nigeria's 
one-time UN PermRep, Yusuff Maitama Sule.  Source said 
the talks had stalled over the middlemen's demands for 
commissions and Mohammed Abacha's unwillingness to 
part with any money.  The source opined that some 
means clearly  had been found to compensate the 
middlemen; he understood the Abachas would be allowed 
to keep about USD 300 million. 
 
 
3.  (C) COMMENT:  When the late Chief Bola Ige 
succeeded Agabi at the Ministry of Justice in mid- 
2000, he chose not to pursue the talks.  Denied bail 
after his indictment for murder in Lagos State, 
Mohammed Abacha has languished in jail (sometimes in 
Kirikiri Prison in Lagos and sometimes at Kuje Prison 
outside Abuja).  Attempts by his family to turn the 
bail denial into a political issue were only partly 
successful despite their reportedly having spent 
considerable amounts of money to obtain favorable 
media treatment from some outlets and to underwrite a 
large poster campaign in several cities.  According to 
a source who visits Mohammed occasionally, the Abacha 
scion at first was supremely confident he would 
ultimately be freed and thus was uninterested in 
cutting a deal.  However, there are credible reports 
that his health began to deteriorate late last year 
and suggestions that his mother, having lost her first 
son, Ibrahim, to a plane crash, did not want to risk 
Mohammed also.  Agabi's return to MOJ offered both the 
GON and the Abachas an occasion to reopen 
negotiations.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
4.  (C) A second Kano-based source confirmed that the 
talks were near conclusion and cited Shinkafi, Kaloma 
Ali and one of Abacha's erstwhile political advisers, 
Sule Yahaya Hamma, as intermediaries.  Asked about 
Maitama Sule, source commented that Maitama's standard 
of living exceeded his means, so he was always nosing 
around for money and might have insinuated himself 
into the process to that end.  This source said he 
understood the Abachas stood to retain about USD 500 
million, and the middlemen would be "settled" for 
their efforts.  The USD 1.2 billion, source continued, 
consisted mostly of funds physically taken from the 
Central Bank of Nigeria which Abacha had wanted 
dispersed abroad as a hedge against sanctions.  He had 
entrusted the money to his son's custody, but, after 
Sani Abacha died, Mohammed Abacha reportedly claimed 
the GON had no proof the money had not been his 
father's lawful property and refused to part with any 
of it. 
 
 
5.  (C) The final step, the second source continued, 
was for the GON to sign the agreement.  The decision 
had been made that Vice President Atiku Abubakar would 
take on that responsibility, source noted, adding that 
he was expected to do so upon his return from the U.S. 
o/a April 8.  The source noted that part of the deal 
was to insulate the Abachas from any future liability 
for past actions and to permit them to "participate 
fully in the political process." 
 
 
6.  (C) COMMENT:  While recovering USD 1.2 billion 
would help the GON sustain its foreign exchange 
reserves and balance its cashflow during the upcoming 
electoral cycle, letting the Abachas "get away" with 
several hundred million dollars will be controversial 
when details of the agreement leak to the public.  The 
GON figure who signs off on this deal may be called 
before the court of public opinion, notably in 
southern Nigeria.  Even their home city of Kano, 
support for the Abachas is not overwhelming. 
JETER