”My family is one of the rich families of Nigeria. I cannot state the\u00a0exact figures of my family fortune. I can state that no member of my\u00a0family needs to work to earn a living” …. Between February 1994 and
\ntoday, my fortune has considerably increased and a big portion of it comes\u00a0from funds deposited by the Central Bank of Nigeria in favour of Mecosta\u00a0Securities, in the book of Goldmann Sachs, Zurich, in April 1997”\u00a0Abubakar Atiku Bagudu The man who features prominently in Mohammed\u00a0Abacha\u2019s testimony in the laundering of $700 million cash is Abubakar\u00a0Atiku Bagudu.<\/p>\n
He is a business associate of the Abachas who is also being investigated\u00a0by a Swiss court. Already, Mohammed Abacha has admitted to lawyers that\u00a0his late father once gave him $700 million cash for safe keeping at his\u00a0Abuja residence. He also admitted that it was Bagudu that later arranged\u00a0for the transfer of this money into various accounts owned by the Abachas\u00a0in foreign banks.<\/p>\n
Abubakar Bagudu appeared before a judge in Geneva for three days, last\u00a0year. Here is what he told the court on 30 September, 1999.<\/p>\n
”I am Abubakar Bagudu, a Nigerian citizen, born in Gwandu, in the\u00a0northern part of the country in 1961. I belong to the Hausa tribe, one of\u00a0the three major ethnic groups in the country. I first had compulsory\u00a0primary education in Gwandu, then I studied economics in the University of\u00a0Sokoto from 1979 to 1983. I then went to another university in Jos from\u00a01988 to 1989, where I obtained my degree in economics. I was an assistantlecturer in the University of Sokoto between 1985 and 1989. Between 1983\u00a0and 1984, I did my NYSC for one year. From 1989 to 1991, I worked for\u00a0Nigeria International Bank in Lagos.<\/p>\n
I then went to Columbia University in New York from 1992 to 1993 where I\u00a0obtained a master’s degree in International Business. In 1993 after my\u00a0master’s degree, I worked for six months in the World Bank in Washington.\u00a0I wish to state that my master’s degree was sponsored by the World Bank.
\nIn 1993, I came back to Nigeria. I engaged myself in consulting and\u00a0international trade with my partner Mr. Ibrahim Turaki. We registered a\u00a0company under the name EPCEL Ltd., Lagos. We represented the French\u00a0company Pasteur Merieux Connaught.<\/p>\n
We were importing machinery. Up till now, we are still in business and I\u00a0maintain a home in Lagos, even though I now spend most of my time in London.\u00a0Mr. Ibrahim Turaki and I have stopped working for EPCEL Ltd., which we\u00a0sold in 1995. In February 1994, Mr. Ibrahim Sani Abacha, eldest son of
\nformer head of state, General Sani Abacha, joined my partner and I to form\u00a0the company, Morgan Procurement Corporation, Lagos, among others. We were\u00a0mostly importing vaccines. One of the companies we established is Mecosta\u00a0Securities Ltd., BVI, in October 1995. We intended to engage in debt\u00a0recovery and arbitration between creditors and debtors. At the inception\u00a0of Mecosta Securities Ltd., three of us namely Mr. Ibrahim Abacha, Mr.\u00a0Mohammed Sani Abacha and myself had equal shares.<\/p>\n
Mr. Ibrahim Sani Abacha died in a plane crash in January 1996. On that\u00a0occasion, Mr. Mohammed Sani Abacha, his brother, the next in line, took up\u00a0the late brother’s share in Morgan Procurement Corporation. He also took\u00a0over the shares in Mecosta Securities Ltd. In fact, Mr. Mohammed Sani
\nAbacha and I became equal shareholders in the company (50% – 50%). I have\u00a0never held political office in Nigeria. However, my family has always been\u00a0close to power. Members of my family have never held political or public\u00a0office, with the exception of my father who was a Director of Primary\u00a0Education in his state, Kebbi State, my state of origin. May I remind you\u00a0that Nigeria is a federation of 36 states.<\/p>\n
Kebbi State shares a border with Benin Republic. Commercially speaking,\u00a0the state is highly developed because a large quantity of goods transit\u00a0through it. My elder brother, Bello Bagudu, was elected a member of the\u00a0federal parliament in February 1999. He is one of the six representing\u00a0Kebbi State.<\/p>\n
Neither myself nor any other member of the extended family has occupied\u00a0public or political office. As for my business partners, Mr. Ibrahim\u00a0Turaki was elected governor of Jigawa State in February 1999. Mr. Mohammed\u00a0Sani Abacha has never held political or public office. However, as I said\u00a0earlier, he is one of the sons of the former head of state, who died in\u00a0June 1998.<\/p>\n
Talking about money, my family is one of the rich families of Nigeria. I cannot state the exact figures of my family fortune. I can state that no\u00a0member of my family needs to work to earn a living. Each member of the\u00a0family is engaged in managing the family assets. As for me, I do not need\u00a0to work because I have a personal fortune worth tens of millions of US\u00a0Dollars, though I cannot quote an exact figure. Moreover, my only wife\u00a0also has a personal fortune, which comes from her family or gifts. My wife\u00a0is not a member of the Abacha family, nor does she belong to any of the\u00a0families that once ruled Nigeria. If I am not mistaking, members of my\u00a0wife’s family occupy no public or political post. I am aware that the\u00a0judge will ask me about relationship with a few individuals. General Sani\u00a0Abacha He was head of state of Nigeria between November, 1993 and June\u00a01998, up till his death at age 57. General Abacha took power under the\u00a0following circumstances: Following June 1993 elections organised by former\u00a0head of state, General Babangida, a civilian president was elected namely\u00a0Mr. Abiola.\u00a0The elections were annulled by General Babangida, officially due to\u00a0electoral malpractices; as a result of the annulment, there were riots and\u00a0disturbance of public peace in the country; as a remedy, General Babangida\u00a0decided to establish a transitional government and appointed Ernest\u00a0Shonekan head of state. He was overthrown by General Sani Abacha. Before\u00a0being appointed head of state, General Sani Abacha was a career military\u00a0officer. He was one of the five most powerful military men in the country.<\/p>\n
I met General Sani Abacha for the first time in 1979 in his house in Kano,\u00a0his native town. I was introduced to him at home, by his son, Ibrahim Sani\u00a0Abacha, but anytime I met him at home, I used to greet him. He knew I was\u00a0one of the friends of his son and he knew my name. I do not think he knew
\nany other member of my family. After he assumed power, I continued to meet\u00a0him in the same manner as before. At no time did I have commercial or\u00a0business links with General Sani Abacha. Our discussions were strictly\u00a0limited to political exchanges. After the death of Mr. Ibrahim Sani\u00a0Abacha, I continued\u00a0visiting the home of the general as in the past, but this time in company\u00a0of Mr. Mohammed Sani\u00a0Abacha. At this juncture, the general became aware of my training, asked\u00a0me a few questions on the economy, but we never had any business\u00a0relationship.<\/p>\n
Mr. Ibrahim Sani Abacha As I said earlier, he was my childhood friend. I\u00a0knew him when we were very young. It is possible for him to bear Alhaji\u00a0instead of Mister, which, according to Islamic culture, means that Mr.\u00a0Ibrahim Sani Abacha has gone on pilgrimage to Mecca.<\/p>\n
Therefore his name can also be Alhaji Ibrahim Sani Abacha. It was Mr.\u00a0Ibrahim Sani Abacha who was my friend. Mr.Mohammed Sani Abacha only came\u00a0in after the death of Mr. Ibrahim Sani Abacha. Ibrahim and Mohammed Sani\u00a0Abacha brothers had an international sugar company. Therefore as early as\u00a01985, we had business links without being business partners.<\/p>\n
As far back as February 1994, Mr. Ibrahim Sani Abacha and myself became\u00a0business partners and
\nMorgan Procurement Corporation was established thereafter. Our partnership\u00a0began under the following circumstances: For several years, even before I\u00a0went on course to Washington, Mr. Ibrahim Sani Abacha, had proposed that\u00a0we work together; I had been refusing because before 1993, I did not want\u00a0to work and, in 1993, my job in Washington took most of my interest and\u00a0time; I agreed to work with Mr. Ibrahim Sani Abacha in 1994 because the\u00a0latter had a huge fortune and I had a lot of ideas about how to invest or\u00a0manage the fortune. At that time, my fortune was much smaller than now.\u00a0Even then, I did not need to work for a living.<\/p>\n
Between February 1994 and today, my fortune has considerably increased and\u00a0a big portion of it comes from funds deposited by the Central Bank of\u00a0Nigeria in favour of Mecosta Securities, in the book of Goldmann Sachs,\u00a0Zurich, in April 1997.<\/p>\n
In reply to a question from the investigating judge, I explained that\u00a0there is no direct link between the rise to power of General Sani Abacha\u00a0in November 1993 and the fact that I accepted in February 1994 to become\u00a0the business partner of his eldest son, Mr. Ibrahim Sani Abacha. It was\u00a0only coincidental. However, it is probable that the fact that my new\u00a0trading partner is the son of the head of state contributed to a large\u00a0extent to the expansion of our business.<\/p>\n
I am aware that my hearing will last at least a whole day, but I am\u00a0prepared to go through it. I already have appointments tomorrow<\/span><\/span>, but I can\u00a0easily come back to Geneva. Meanwhile, I am leaving a copy of a diagram\u00a0showing the itinerary of funds, the third agreement dated 16 August 1999\u00a0signed with Nigeria, as well as the draft law negotiated between the\u00a0parties and which was to be deposited with High Court of London for\u00a0authentication’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ”My family is one of the rich families of Nigeria. I cannot state the\u00a0exact figures of my family fortune. I can state that no member of my\u00a0family needs to work…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n