DIYA: I Did Not Know Abacha Was Stealing
By Chris Irekamba
IT is like a fairy tale; and that is exactly the impression Gen. Oladipo Diya, former Chief of General Staff (CGS), wants to correct.
According to him, despite being second-in-command in government, he did not know that the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, was involved in large-scale plundering of the country's treasury.
In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, post his 65th birthday anniversary, Diya, a legal practitioner and publisher, said:
"I didn't know that Abacha was stealing money. I read about it on the pages of newspapers. I found it difficult to believe that Abacha was stealing money."
On how he could deny knowledge of the plundering spree of the Abacha family and associates, being the second-in-command to the late Gen. Sani Abacha, Diya declared:
"These things (looted funds) being put (published) on the pages of newspapers were not taken from the budget. People said it was being taken from the Reserve Account.
"And up till now, I don't know how money was spent or taken from the Reserve Account and it's not something that was discussed or debated at the level of the Ruling Council. So, how would I have known?"
The Guardian in its edition of Sunday, March 22, published the sordid details of how, among other methods, the Abacha family and associates stole billions both in local and hard currencies from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
However, stressing that he did not know how much Abacha allegedly stole, and that he was not in a position to confirm what really happened; Diya advised that efforts must be made to block the loopholes that encourage such large-scale fraud.
Diya, who reserved his comments on the controversial annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election "for another time," said there was no alternative to democracy.
Noting that there was no comparison between military and democracy, he said the issue was "what can we do to perfect our democratic system? That is what should concern all Nigerians," he said.
"There is no alternative to democracy. But what do we do to sanitise the system and make politics accessible to everybody regardless of your status, regardless of the money you have. It shouldn't be for moneybags; that is the issue."
He also addressed the issue of Yoruba leadership, his estate business, law practice and publication, the Oladipo Diya Educational Foundation and his position in the Christian denomination.
