Abacha’s $23 million loot should be used to satisfy the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, according to Dachung Musa Bagos, a legislator for Jos south and Jos east in the house of representatives (ASUU).
Read also: $23.5 million looted funds by late Sani Abacha recovered.
Recall that the Abuja-Kano road, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, and the Second Niger Bridge have all been designated as recipients of the recovered cash, known as “Abacha-5,” according to Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami.
On Wednesday, August 24, Bagos said in an interview with Channels Television that the national legislature was not included in the distribution of discovered loot.
He continued by saying that in his capacity as a representative of the people, he must defend the allocation of those money.
The lawmaker said;
“This is my third year in the national assembly, we have never discussed any of the recovered loot. We just sit down and we hear that the executive recovered loot and allot the same to projects that they so desire.
“We believe that when we discuss these issues at the national assembly, [and] we appropriate those funds according to the needs of Nigeria, it is going to go a long way; not just the executive looking at it and alloting it to what they feel it should be. The constitution has given us that right.
“We have pressing needs. Like now, ASUU has been on strike and the government is trying to settle those issues.
“As a representative of the people, if I have to argue where those funds should be channelled to, I will say, ‘why can’t you channel part of this fund to ASUU so that most of the youths that are at home would go back to school?’
“But some of the areas we feel that the executive is channelling those funds are not the immediate needs of Nigerians.”
