•Maryam and her late husband, General Abacha
Former First Lady, Maryam Abacha, has dismissed allegations that her late husband, General Sani Abacha, looted Nigeria’s treasury during his reign as military Head of State from 1993 to 1998.
She insisted that all such claims are fabricated.
In an interview aired on TVC yesterday to mark 27 years since the death of Abacha, who died in office on June 8, 1998, the former First Lady maintained that the funds were not looted, saying instead that her husband’s financial dealings were deliberately misrepresented.
Over the years, successive Nigerian governments have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars stashed in foreign accounts, widely referred to as “Abacha loot”.
These funds, repatriated from countries including Switzerland, the United States, and the United Kingdom, have been used for various social investment programmes.
She asked those making the claims to present credible evidence.
The former First Lady said: “Who is the witness of the monies that were being stashed? Did you see the signature or the evidence of any monies stashed abroad? And the monies that my husband kept for Nigeria, in a few months, the monies vanished.
“People are not talking about that. Why are you blaming somebody for something? Is that tribalism or a religious problem? Or what is the problem with Nigerians? I pray for Nigerians. I pray for all of us.
“I pray that we should have goodness in our hearts. We should stop telling lies and blaming people. Why are we so bad towards each other? Because somebody is a Northerner or a Southerner, somebody is a Muslim or a Christian, or somebody is nice.
“It’s not fair. I think the press should try. You, the press, should try to educate the people.
“You are here to educate the people, to inform the people, and to entertain. You are here to help the country. You are not here to bastardise people.”
