South Africa Plans To Return Seized Nigerian Money To Buhari After May 29

South African President, Jacob Zuma

South Africa is considering returning more than R100-million in Nigerian money that it confiscated last year, or clearing the way to sell arms to the West African country.

The Mail & Guardian has learned through diplomatic sources that South Africa has begun talks to work out a process to return the money in an effort to start off on a clean slate with the recently elected government of the Nigerian president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari.

South African law enforcement agencies seized $15-million in two batches: $5.7-million that had been wired to Standard Bank and $9.3-million in cash, which was confiscated. It was brought into the country through Lanseria airport in Johannesburg in three suitcases by a delegation said to represent
the Nigerian government. In both cases, the money was suspected to be for illegal use.

Now South Africa wants to use the money to extend an olive branch to Buhari’s government and mend relations between the two countries, which became strained during the tenure of outgoing president Goodluck Jonathan.

“The positive thing about [Buhari] is that one of the people who supported him is Atiku Abubakar. That makes him our man and he will automatically work well with [President Jacob] Zuma,” a government source said.

Close connection
Abubakar is close to Zuma. He was Nigeria’s deputy president during the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo, at the time when Zuma was Thabo Mbeki’s deputy.

“Also, this man [Buhari] is a [retired] military general. It is true that the military needs some beefing up to fight Boko Haram and we should help,” the source added.

So how will Nigeria know that it stands to benefit from an otherwise controversial transaction that had exacerbated tensions between the two countries?

Explained the government source: “Diplomatically you send a signal. Obviously they will have to make a request once they receive a positive signal, but the request will just be an official step to finalising the transaction.”

Buhari is due to take over the leadership of the country after winning the recent elections. Formal talks have not yet begun but South Africa has apparently started sending “positive signals” through its diplomats in Nigeria and to the Nigerian embassy in Pretoria.

Diplomatically favourable
To ensure that the process of returning the money or regularising the sale of arms looks as clean as possible, the Hawks investigation will continue, the source said, but will be managed politically to reach a conclusion that is diplomatically favourable.

“One way is to make the investigators say: ‘Yes, a law has been broken, but it’s true that the government [of Nigeria] is the owner of that money and genuinely wanted to buy arms legally. They might have flouted the rules, but it’s a genuine transaction.’ [We will say] this money does not come from dirty hands or rebels or arms dealers,” the source said.

“We will find a way to regularise the transaction and either return the money or give them arms.”

Nigeria wanted to buy arms such as helicopters and ammunition to strengthen its fight against Islamic extremist group Boko Haram