‘Bury your head in shame’ — Malami tackles critics of Abacha’s $311m loot

The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said critics of the repatriated $311 million looted by former Head of State, General Sani Abacha should bury their heads in shame.

This was even as he explained why he christened the looted funds as “assets”.

The AGF who spoke in a statement issued on Wednesday said it was unfortunate that some people initially tried to frustrate attempts by the Nigerian government to repatriate the funds.

According to him, such persons should “bury their heads in shame” instead of resorting to criticisms seeing that the repatriation eventually became a success.

His words: “The point needs to be made that when the seal of legitimacy was appended to the funds by way of repatriation it became an asset in favour of the Federal Government as a beneficial owner of same.

“Beyond the issues of verbal dexterity and vocal acrobatics, Nigerians should focus more on the effective utilisation of the recovered funds in accordance with the content of the signed tripartite agreement in the interest of Nigerians.

“It is palpable that news about successful return of the looted assets have brought nightmares to nay-sayers and pessimists who wanted to frustrate the repatriation process through a campaign of calumny. They resorted to rhetoric instead of burying their heads in shame.”

Malami added that the successful recovery of the money was indicative of the “level of confidence, trust and respect the international community accorded the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government”.