Stop Predicting My Defeat, Return Abacha's Loot – Buhari Blasts HSBC

President Muhammadu Buhari has lambasted HSBC for saying his second term would stunt the economy.


Last week, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research unit of The Economist Magazine and HSBC, a multinational banking and financial services company, warned in separate reports that the Nigerian economy will continue to be on a stretcher if President Muhammadu Buhari is given the opportunity to govern the country for a second term.

HSBC Bank Plc is one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world and had predicted that President Buhari will lose his second term bid

President Buhari and his team have responded via a statement released on Saturday by his spokesman, Garba Shehu which stated that

 “a bank that soiled its hand with ‘‘milions of US dollars yet-to-be-recovered Abacha loot and continued until a few months ago to shield the stolen funds of one of the leaders of the Nigerian Senate has no moral right whatsoever to project that a “second term for Mr. Buhari raises the risk of limited economic progress and further fiscal deterioration.”

He stated: “We ask them to heed President Buhari’s constant refrain: return our stolen assets, then see how well we will do.

“From the facts available to our investigation agencies, HSBC’s put down on President Buhari is no more than an expression of frustration over the administration’s measures put in place which has abolished grand corruption, the type which this bank thrives on in many countries.


“They may also just be out to discredit the President out of the fear of sanctions and fines following the national assets that are stolen.

“With the coming of President Buhari, it is not a secret that corruption, corrupt individuals, banks and other corporate entities that aided corrupt practices are under investigation for various offenses.

“For many of them, including their friends in the media, they would rather have President Buhari out of their way, for business as usual to return.

“Our investigation agencies believe that HSBC had laundered more than USD 100,000,000 for the late General Sani Abacha in Jersey, Paris, London and Geneva.

“Among these accounts on the records are: AC: S-104460 HSBC Fund Admin Ltd. Jersey ($12,000,000); AC 37060762 HSBC Life (Europe), U.K ($20,000,000) and AC: 38175076 HSBC Bank Plc. U.K ($1,600,000).

“The bank is also suspected in the laundering of proceeds of corruption involving more than 50 other Nigerians, including a serving Senator as earlier indicated.

“In a book, “Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation”, published in 2017, Jack Bernstein told the story of global money laundering highlighting the unenviable place of the HSBC.

“This is a bank that states and federal authorities in the U.S. forced to pay $1.92 billion to settle charges of money laundering; fined $1.2 billion in Hong Kong for “systemic deficiencies” in bond sales and was made to pay $100 million in currency rigging settlement as reported by The Telegraph of 18th January, 2018

In the above statement Buhari Administration has finally admitted that Late Sani Abacha looted Nigeria wealth.  President Buhari has spent years defending his boss under whom he worked closely and had direct allocation from the treasury and did not account to anyone until Obasanjo came on board and decided to probe  PTDF which Buhari headed  and indeed found huge amount of money missing and unaccounted for.  Obasanjo chose to look the other way.
Sad.