Garba Shehu: Mambilla power project won’t benefit from $311m Abacha Loot

Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, says Mambilla power plant is not included in the projects to be funded with the recently repatriated Abacha Loot.

Nigeria had received $311 million stolen during the Abacha regime from the US and the Bailiwick of Jersey earlier in the month.

Shehu had initially listed the power project among the beneficiaries of the repatriated fund.

But in a statement on Wednesday, Sheu said the initial inclusion of Mambilla power plant among the projects to be funded with the recovered money was a mistake.

“The recently repatriated Sani Abacha loot will go towards three of the Federal Government’s five priority projects, excluding the Mambilla power and East-West road projects,” he said.

“In an earlier statement, I had mistakenly noted that the Mambilla was one of five priority projects to benefit from the $311 million Abacha loot under the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) managed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA). That error is regretted.

“Although the Mambilla and East-West expressway are regarded under the PIDF as priority projects, I have ascertained that they are exempt from the agreement signed between the Nigerian, United States and British territory of Jersey governments.

“According to the document, only the second Niger bridge, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano expressway, and Lagos-Ibadan expressway will benefit from the repatriated funds. The funds are domiciled in the NSIA.”

The $5.8 billion Mambilla hydropower project in Taraba state has been stalled owing to legal and funding crises.

The  3,050-megawatt project, the biggest plant in the country, was conceived in 1982.