US Govt Rejects Appeal By Rights Lawyer For Expedited Release On Abacha Loot Recovery, Management By Kyari
The Oasis Reporters
May 15, 2020
The US Government has denied the appeal by international human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe for expedited disclosure of documents related to Abba Kyari’s role in the recovery of the $311 million Abacha loot to be managed by the agency in which his daughter is Vice President.
The thrust of the case are itemized thus:
1. Appeal against the initial denial of expedited processing for the Freedom of Information Act request
2. Exhibit to the appeal which is a congressional letter of inquiry with concerns, and is about the Abacha loot
3. The determination by the US Government refusing expedited processing.
The disclosures by the US government will now be done in excess of 20 days as a result.
Subject: Re: Ref: F-2020-05405, Freedom of Information Act – Expedition Request Review
Dear FOIA Office,
Thank you for the acknowledgment of our FOIA referenced above.
We wish to respectfully request a review of our expedition request. Per 22 CFR § 171.11(f).
The information is urgently needed by an individual primarily engaged in disseminating information in order to inform the public concerning actual or alleged Federal government activity
The above requirement was met when we stated thus:
“We are an international human rights law group conducting an anti-corruption investigation. In light of the return of $311 million by the US to Nigeria last week and the likelihood that a family member of the interlocutor would be put in charge of the funds and potentially benefit financially as a result, we would like this responded to in a timely fashion.”
For clarity, our anti-corruption investigations are matters of public interest. We engage in the dissemination of facts to the public, the congress and other relevant agencies and entities. Indeed our FOIA request yesterday was actually copied to the congressional foreign affairs committee and also disseminated to the media.
Attached are additional exhibits that show that this is an urgent issue of public interest and concern concerning Federal government activity or alleged activity.
https://punchng.com/us-lawmakers-oppose-return-of-320m-abacha-loot/
Kindly grant expeditious processing accordingly.
Similarly we are open to receiving the information on a rolling basis – i.e. as it becomes available and not all at once for ease of discovery.
Thank you.
Emmanuel Ogebe
USNLG8
