'The Super Perm-Sec Saga'
by Elizabeth Ohene
"The balance as of the time I closed the account on my way to Vienna, was £17,000. Naturally, I had to take the money with me to Vienna from London since I could not leave such amount with anybody in London... “The man known in Nigeria as 'Super Permanent Secretary', Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji, is in the midst of a simmering scandal.
It all started apparently in the Austrian capital, Vienna in May when the Permanent Secretary went there to attend an OPEC meeting. The details of what happened exactly are not clear but some of the points are not in dispute: Mr Abubakar Alhaji's seventh floor room at the Vienna Hilton was broken into and some amount of money stolen.
According to the May 24 issue of the Austrian newspaper, Kurier, Mr Abubakar lost one million Austrian schillings in different currencies which work out at about N40,000.
Mr Abubakar thinks the newspaper's account is somewhat exaggerated. Yes, thieves broke into his hotel room; yes, they stole some money but the amount was "grossly exaggerated". The amount he lost, according to him, was N17,869 made up of £17,000 and 700 American dollars.
The Austrian paper could not resist adding their own snide comments that such big amounts were being carried by an official of a country that says it is broke and whose government claims to be fighting corruption.
Nigerian students in Austria who read the publication were outraged and sent copies to Nigeria and more specifically to Mr Abubakar's boss, the Minister for Finance, Onaolapo Soleye, complaining that while the government could not send needy seriously. students abroad money for their upkeep, an official could have been given so much foreign exchange for an international meeting.
The story invariably found its way into the local Nigerian press. The Guardian interviewed Abubakar on his version of the story which we reproduce below: "In the first place, my hotel room has never been guarded by any police. Such courtesies are extended only to ministers.
"Secondly, the amount of money stolen was £17,000 plus my travellers cheques denominated in dollars and these amounted to $700 in all.
"As for the origin of the £17,000 the Federal Military Government directed all its functionaries to close their foreign accounts and as someone who had his university education abroad, I have had an account in the United Kingdom from which I was paying school fees.
"The balance as of the time I closed the account on my way to Vienna, was £17,000. Naturally, I had to take the money with me to Vienna from London since I could not leave such an amount with anybody in London. If the story was otherwise, I would not have reported to the police."
During the Obasanjo administration, a notice similar to the current one was issued to all officers asking them not to operate foreign bank accounts and if they do to close them. Is it being suggested that the most powerful Permanent Secretary flouted those instructions?
Mr Abubakar was unhappy that the hotel management and the Austrian saying: police did not investigate his complaint
He said the hotel management appeared determined to prove that the theft could not have taken place in their hotel even though, according to him, he showed them evidence of a break-in into his suitcase when he returned from the meeting.
The hotel management duly called the police. But Mr Abubakar said the police spent considerable time questioning hotel staffers in German until he voiced his worry as to whether he should not appropriately be involved in the process of the investigation. The police, he said, dwelt a lot on asking such questions as the hotel he stayed in London and his flight from London to Vienna. 'At that stage, I asked them to leave my room as I would leave everything to God".
Mr Abubakar also said the installation of newly adapted code-system for doors was no cast-iron guarantee against unlawful acts.
"It should be observed that such a system is not unique to the Hilton Hotel and is far from being theft proof", he said and queried: "Afterall, how do staff get in and out to clean the rooms etc?"
His decision to close his foreign account, which we found out was at the Woolgate House, Coleman Street, London branch of Chase Manhattan Bank N.A., followed the Federal Government directive No. 1396/33 of 23/1/84 over which Mr Gray Longe, secretary to the Federal Government, wrote on June 13 to remind public officers that they could not keep bank accounts in foreign lands.
In the cabinet office circular Ref. No. 59091/S.5/T.1/5, Mr Longe observed that in the completed assets declaration forms returned, some officers had omitted information of the aspect of their foreign account.
In some cases, said Mr Longe, the account numbers were given with foot notes to the effect that the balance in the account was "very small".
He said: 'For the avoidance of doubt, it is the policy of the present administration that its functionaries should not maintain a foreign account.
"The Federal Military Government has, therefore, directed that all public officers, who still keep foreign accounts, should close them and send letters to the appropriate authority to confirm compliance with the directive”
Mr Neil J. Tedder, vice president/manager in charge of the Africa Office of Chase Manhattan Bank in London, wrote to Mr Abubakar three of whose children are studying in Britain, on June 22
"Following your instructions we are pleased to confirm that the above mentioned account with us has been closed and the balance that was previously standing to the credit of the account has been paid to you". Mr Abubakar's immediate worry, he said, was how to maintain his children in British schools."It is interesting to note that Alhaji Abubakar's explanation makes no reference whatsoever to other bank accounts that he is known to have abroad. For example, Talking Drums has got information that he has an account in the Westminster Bank in Victoria Street in London in which about £600,000 has been paid on one occasion.
A few questions need to be asked about this whole incident. During the Obasanjo administration, a notice similar to the current account one was issued to all officials asking them not to operate foreign bank accounts and if they do, to close them. Is it being suggested that the most powerful Permanent Secretary flouted those instructions?
And since when has it been that a person needed to go personally to his bank to close the account? How come that Alhaji Abubakar did not simply repatriate his money to Nigeria through the Central Bank as demanded by the new probity in the government of General Buhari?
If some people are being sent to jail because they operated foreign bank accounts, why has the FMG asked its officials and members to simply close their accounts? Why have the politicians not been extended the same courtesy? Why has the FMG not declared a general amnesty on the question of foreign accounts and given a deadline for all to be closed or else, prosecuted everybody?
Alhaji Abubakar has stated that when he closed his account in London, he could not leave such an amount with anybody and therefore had to carry it with him to Vienna - was the final destination of the money then going to be Lagos? It is said in The Guardian interview that what is worrying Alhaji Abubakar is how to find money to look after his children who are at school in the U.K. There is an answer to that surely: by applying to the Central Bank of Nigeria for money to be remitted to his wards abroad.
There is no earthly reason why ex- Governor Melford Okilo should be in jail nor Aper Aku when all Alhaji Abubakar has to worry about is public life. whether N17,000 or N40,000 was stolen from his hotel room.
There are many people who would say that very few people were more powerful than Alhaji Abubakar in the Shagari regime. When Gen. Buhari came, he came out unscathed because he is supposed not to be a politician. While politicians who were supposed to have been his bosses are being prosecuted and jailed for corruption, he is leading an economic recovery programme.
It is useful to remember that cheques are like boomerangs, they come back to the drawer. The Barclays Bank at Northumberland Avenue could tell a story or two if pushed to the wall.
