SPECIAL adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, Mr Daniel Bwala, has said there is no proof in Nigeria that Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Mr Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, misappropriated public funds.

Bwala made the remarks during an appearance on Head to Head on Al Jazeera, hosted by Mehdi Hasan. The programme examined the Tinubu administration’s record on several issues, including corruption, security challenges and political appointments.

During the discussion, Hasan questioned Tinubu’s anti-corruption stance, citing Bagudu’s role in the administration. He referred to allegations by the United States Department of Justice that Bagudu was linked to a scheme that embezzled and laundered billions of dollars during the rule of Sani Abacha in the 1990s.

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Bagudu was part of a network connected to the late Abacha that allegedly “embezzled, misappropriated and extorted billions” from the Nigerian government.

Efforts to recover assets linked to the Abacha era began in 1999 when the Nigerian government hired a Swiss lawyer, Enrico Monfrini, to pursue legal proceedings in several jurisdictions, including Switzerland, France, Jersey and the United Kingdom. At the time, assets associated with Bagudu, who had ties to the Abacha family, were frozen alongside those connected to the former ruler and his associates.

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Responding to the allegations, Bwala maintained that Bagudu’s current role in government is not tainted by any proven wrongdoing within Nigeria. He stressed that legal actions or rulings in the United States are separate from Nigeria’s judicial system.

“There is no evidence that Bagudu has misappropriated funds. The decision of the court in the United States does not bind the Supreme Court of Nigeria,” Bwala said, adding that no proof exists under Nigerian law that the minister diverted public funds.

Allegations against minister

In a complaint, the DOJ had accused Abacha, Bagudu and other associates of ‘systematically’ embezzling billions of dollars of public funds from Nigeria in the 1990s, siphoning the money out of the country via a network of offshore companies.

His offshore finances were also detailed in ICIJ’s 2021 Pandora Papers investigation, which revealed that he was a client of Farrer & Co., the elite London law firm used by the British royal family. Reporting by Premium Times and the Guardian showed how, from 2010, Farrer & Co. helped Bagudu and his brother, Ibrahim Bagudu, transfer 98 million euros (about $120 million at the time) in cash and securities from an offshore trust registered in the British Virgin Islands to a complex trust structure known as the Blue Group, registered in Singapore and the Cook Islands, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

Farrer & Co. used the services of Singaporean trust company, Asiaciti Trust Group Ltd., to administer the Blue Group, which afforded Bagudu even greater secrecy and control over his hidden assets. Both Farrer & Co. and Asiaciti took Bagudu on as a client despite the serious reputational risks and what Asiaciti referred to as his ‘somewhat colourful past,’ the ICIJ said.

“When Asiaciti decided to conduct ‘enhanced due diligence’ on Bagudu, Farrer & Co. pushed back, saying it was unnecessary and that Bagudu’s brother was unhappy with the added scrutiny.”

His appointment raised uncomfortable questions for Tinubu. Several activists and pundits openly criticised his fitness for the role given his past, including one commentator who wrote: “It’s a reflection of the terrifying times we live in that Atiku Bagudu still resurfaces in the corridors of power and tries to position himself for an ‘important role’ in the new administration.”

The ICIJ said since Abacha’s death in 1998, the Nigerian government has opted for a strategy of negotiation with his family and associates in an attempt to recover the stolen funds.

“In 2003, Nigeria reached a settlement with Bagudu who turned over hundreds of millions of dollars with no admission of guilt. Criminal charges and civil claims against him were dropped,” the ICIJ noted.