Reps Oppose Planned Sharing Of Recovered Abacha Loot To Poor Families

Members of the House of Representatives are opposing the Federal Government’s decision to share the recovered $322 million Abacha loot to poor families in the country.

The lawmakers are saying that the Federal Government cannot spend the money without the parliament’s approval.

The Federal Government had in June disclosed that it will disburse the recovered money to 302 poor households in 19 states starting from July.

According to the F.G, it will be part of the government’s Social Investment Programs which aims to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty.

But the lawmakers are asking the FG how much is the total Abacha loot recovered so far?

During plenary on Wednesday, they questioned the motive behind the FG’s decision and how the government plans to determine which families are the poorest.

However, the Special Assistant to the President on Justice Reform, Juliet Nwagwu, explained that the money will be paid in installment to the poor households in order to avoid logistic orders.

She said, “Nobody is going to give anybody any cash; it is going to be through an electronic payment system which we want CSOs (civil society organisations) to verify,”.

The lawmakers are, therefore, suggesting that the money should be paid into the consolidated revenue fund and distributed to federating units in line with the current revenue sharing formula.