| I FIND the stout and spirited defence of Mohammed Abacha by some politicians of Northern Nigeria origin particularly the Speaker of the House of Representatives Alhaji Ghali Na 'Abba rather strange, hypocritical and baseless. I am hugely disappointed that these defenders of Mohammed Abacha are not defending him on the notion of justice, fair play and the rule of law but on primordial consideration of sectionalism and ethnicity. They are alleging that Mohammed Abacha is being pursued because he happens to be of Northern Nigerian extraction. In their preconceived notion of playing the ethnic card to obscure the issue at stake, these ethnic champions have completely turned a blind eye to the hideous crimes alleged to have been committed by this young man against the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I am not talking about his acquittal by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in a controversial judgement concerning his alleged involvement in the brutal murder of the late business Mogul and politician, MKO Abiola's wife, Kudirat Abiola. I agree that consequent on the Supreme Court judgement, Mohammed Abacha cannot be arrested and prosecuted on facts concerning his alleged instigation of the murder of late Kudirat Abiola. This is because the Nigerian Constitution has effectively prohibited the doctrine of double jeopardy in Nigerian criminal jurisprudence. This is embedded in the maxim of the law that no man could be twice vexed or tried upon facts which he has been previously tried and acquitted by a court of competent jurisdiction. Nevertheless, the Federal Government is perfectly entitled to arrest and prosecute Mohammed Abacha based on evidence that he has committed some financial crimes against the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In this wise, there is prime facie evidence that Mohammed Abacha was involved in massive fraud which led to the transfer of several billions of dollars to offshore accounts in USA and Europe particularly Switzerland and the United Kingdom while his father, late General Sani Abacha was Nigerian Head of State. The findings of a Swiss Federal Commission that investigated the stashing in Swiss banks millions of dollars by late General Sani Abacha and his cronies was startling and a vindication of the position of the Federal Government of Nigeria that Mohammed Abacha has a case to answer. Specifically the Swiss Federal Commission found that one of that country's largest banks, Credit Suisse together with her two subsidiaries, Bank Hofmanna and Bank less, accepted funds totalling N214 million from Abacha's son. In the United Kingdom, the Financial services authority have also published damning reports implicating late General Abacha and family in massive siphoning of public funds into banks there. In the face of these unprecedented crimes committed by late General Abacha and his family particularly Mohammed Abacha, I find it hard to comprehend why these politicians are working very strongly to undermine the recovery efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria. It is regrettable that the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should be among the tribe of Nigerians as who are unabashedly saying that Mohammed Abacha should be set free. It is also disappointing that this case of Mohammed Abacha was originally enumerated as one of the impeachable offences allegedly committed by President Olusegun Obasanjo by the House of Representatives. The Speaker, Alhaji Na'abba even lost sight of his exalted position and pursued police officers who arrested Mohammed Abacha to their station to question why the police should arrest him again after an Abuja Federal High Court had declared that the Federal Government should not re-arrest him in connection with the Kudirat Abiola murder case. Undoubtedly, the Court did not pronounce that Mohammed Abacha should never be arrested for whatever crime he is alleged to have committed. It is therefore illogical and absurd to argue that the Federal Government has no respect for the Rule of Law for ordering the arrest of Mohammed Abacha on a different ground other than that relating to the killing of pro-democracy activist, Kudirat Abiola. Little wonder, the international community has very low regard for Nigeria. This is the same Speaker who has been posturing and grandstanding on the issue of public morality and integrity, seemingly collaborating with forces of corruption, bad governance, militarism and sectionalism to pull down the anti-corruption effort of the Federal Government. By this, Speaker Na'Abba has completely lost the moral fabric and authority to continue to condemn President Olusegun Obasanjo. This underscores the belief in certain circles that Speaker Na'Abba has his own agenda in tackling President Obasanjo. I am hard to understand the mentality of the Nigerian elite. Have we not heard of a court sentencing a man in Zamfara State for allegedly stealing cattle? In fact, the arm of this helpless fellow was cut-off. The unfortunate thing is that all these people who are stridently opposed to the trial of Mohammed Abacha for fraud are from the so-called Sharia compliance states. We are told the singular reason for the introduction of Sharia Criminal Law is the moral rejuvenation of these states. What is justice if a man who has stolen billions of dollars is said not to have committed a crime, why others who stole just a cattle are convicted and punished by amputating of an arm? For the sake of this country moving forward, I think it is the right time, we all rose above pettiness and parochialism in our perception of National issues otherwise, this country shall continue to slide into the backwaters of retrogression and eventual disintegration. Obono-Obla lives in Calabar, Cross River State | 
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