Obasanjo Tells Buhari: I Met $3.7 Billion In Reserve, While You Met $30 Billion

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has dismissed calls by some people demanding that he accounts for Abacha loot recovered by his administration. In an interview over the weekend, the former military general described such persons as “illiterates and stupid people”.

Obasanjo said the role of his office was to facilitate the recovery process and not how it was put to use.

“They said the money recovered from Abacha, I should account for it. What stupidity! The man who asked for it, the man who gave the judgement or who answered them are all stupid, with due respect.

“I don’t keep account, all Abacha loots were sent to Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and every bit of it was reported to Minister of Finance. My job was to write where we can get help to recover the money.

“Every penny that comes out of it went to CBN, so if they want to know what happened to the money, they should call CBN governor or call the Minister of Finance.

“But again, it shows ignorance, total ignorance, which is lacking and you wonder, are these people educated? They can also approach the man who helped us in recovering process to give the list of money recovered and where he took it,” Obasanjo said.

While commenting on oil prices, Obasanjo said President Muhammadu Buhari was lucky comparing Buhari’s opportunities with his own.

“When I assumed office in 1999, I inherited $3.7 billion in reserve, while Buhari met $30 billion, almost 10 times of what I met then, and the price of oil then was $9. When it got to $20, I was dancing.

“I know the price is down now and with time, it will jump up again. What Buhari is doing currently is preparing ground for Nigeria to take advantage when it goes up again,” he maintained.