ABACHA LOOT: GON AND FAMILY SAID CLOSE TO

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