The United States (U.S) government has expressed concern that President Bola Tinubu is continuing the massive corruption trend of his predecessors, given his ministerial appointment of Abubakar Bagudu, a an associate of former Nigerian dictator, late Gen Sani Abacha.
In its 2023 country report on human rights practices in Nigeria, the US government said there has not been any “significant” difference between Tinubu’s nearly one-year performance and that of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.
Despite several reports that Bagudu was complicit in his Abacha’s looting of hundreds of millions of dollars from the government treasury—the most of which have been repatriated to Nigeria by several nations, including France, UK, and Switzerland — Tinubu still forwarded Bagudu’s name as a ministerial nominee to the Senate for screening and confirmation.
According to the report, Tinubu turned a blind eye to Bagudu’s widely reported transgressions, even entrusting him with the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning last August.
No member of the Senate raised objections about the nomination of the former Kebbi governor despite his infamy with Abacha as they unanimously okayed his appointment, to the shock of many Nigerians and allies of the West African nation, including the United States.
“In August (2023), President Tinubu appointed former governor Abubakar Bagudu the Minister of Budget, despite Bagudu’s widely reported history of helping then-President Sani Abacha steal hundreds of millions of dollars from the government in the 1990s,” the U.S government stated in its 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in Nigeria.
Bagudu, unfettered by his ministerial position, continued to leech on government funds, initiating moves to block France from repatriating $150 million loot stolen by the late Abacha unless he got a 20 per cent cut, the report further stated.
Bagudu, the report further claimed, said he had an interest in the stolen funds and would only back down if paid $30 million, a condition Tinubu’s government was compelled to agree to, as it was determined to recover the stolen funds.
The move to block the repatriation underscored Bagudu’s brazenness and probable influence on the incumbent president, who still allows him to occupy the ministerial position.
That Bagudu is allowed to function as a key member of Tinubu’s administration despite his documented financial misdeeds has done little to inspire the U.S confidence that Tinubu will be any different from his predecessors.