Maryam Abacha, wife of the late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, has dismissed allegations that her husband siphoned funds from Nigeria’s treasury.
General Abacha ruled Nigeria from 1993 until his sudden death in 1998.
In an interview aired on Sunday on TVC to mark the 27th anniversary of Abacha’s passing, the former First Lady insisted that the funds were not looted, claiming instead that her husband’s financial dealings had been deliberately misrepresented.
“Who witnessed the money that was allegedly stashed?
“Did you see any signatures or evidence of money kept abroad? And the money my husband kept for Nigeria—within a few months, it vanished. Nobody talks about that.
“I pray for Nigerians. I pray for all of us. I pray that we have goodness in our hearts. We should stop telling lies and blaming people,” she said.
However, successive Nigerian governments have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars hidden in foreign accounts, widely referred to as the “Abacha loot.”
These funds, repatriated from countries including Switzerland, the United States, and the United Kingdom, have been allocated to various social investment programmes.
