Channel Abacha loots to develop communities in Niger Delta, activist begs Buhari

National Coordinator of the Center for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ ), Comrade Sheriff Mulade has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to channel the recovered loots of late General Sani Abacha to develop communities in the Niger Delta.

The Niger Delta-born peace and environmental advocate said Buhari should use the recovered $308M Abacha loots to directly develop the neglected oil-producing communities in the region.

Comrade Mulade made the clarion call Thursday wherein he advised that the recovered $308m Abacha loots should be channeled to the development of oil-producing communities across the Federation, especially core states like Delta, Bayelsa and River States.

According to him, the recovered funds were proceeds from oil exploration activities from the oil communities particularly from Akwa Ibom, Delta, Bayelsa, and the River States during the period General Abacha was Head of State.

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He, therefore, opined that the recovered funds should naturally be sunk into infrastructural and human capital development of the Niger Delta people ho lays the golden egg.

“We should not repeat the same mistake a second time. Using the recovered funds for the construction of Lagos – Ibadan expressway, Abuja – Kano expressway and Second Niger bridge is a misplaced priority and an act of injustice to the oil-producing communities and States”, he quipped.

The funds, he said, should be used mainly for the construction of projects that will create employment to reduce youth restiveness.

Comrade Mulade made the appeal following the Federal Government’s plan to inject the recovered funds into the construction of Lagos – Ibadan expressway, Abuja – Kano expressway and the Second Niger bridge.

He appealed to President Buhari to include the Niger Delta coastal oil-bearing communities where the funds in question were largely extracted from in the developmental focus of the Buhari administration.

“If the fund is used for the infrastructural and human capital development of the oil bearing communities, it will boost the marine economic growth and help alleviate poverty from the coastal communities,” he noted.

The activist, however, warned against allocating the funds to developmental agencies in the Niger Delta region, saying rather the Federal Government should inject the funds directly to avoid corruption.