Nigeria and United States, Tuesday, in Abuja, signed an agreement to repatriate $23 million looted by former military dictator, the late General Sani Abacha, to the country.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami signed on behalf of Nigeria while the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms. Mary Beth Leonard, signed on behalf of her country.
During the ceremony, Malami said the decision to return the stolen funds, which is tagged ‘Abacha-5’, was a culmination of a series of negotiations and meetings between Nigeria, the US Department of Justice and the UK National Crime Agency.
The Attorney-General also explained how the repatriated loot would be utilized. He said President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the recovered loot be used for the completion of the Abuja-Kano road, Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the Second Niger Bridge.
“The president’s mandate to my office is to ensure that all international recoveries are transparently invested and monitored by civil society organizations to compete for these three projects within the agreed timeline,” Malami said.
On her part, the American Ambassador to Nigeria said the US department of justice and the FBI seized these funds in response to “General Abacha and his associates’ violation of US laws” when they laundered these assets to the US and into accounts in the UK.
“These actions were a flagrant breach of the Nigerian people’s trust. But today is the result of an extensive and high level corporation between the US, UK and the federal republic of Nigeria to make the Nigerian people whole,” Leonard said.
“This agreement is also a kind of collaboration that our government must continue in order to right the wrongs committed under the previous regimes.
“Combined with a $311.7m seized and repatriated with the assistance of the Bailiwick of Jersey and the government of Nigeria in 2020, this repatriation brings the total amount of funds repatriated in this case by the US to more than $334.7 million.
“In other words, these recovered criminal proceeds, like the $311.7m previously seized and repatriated, will be transformed into a visible and impactful representation of the possibilities of government assets that directly improve the lives of average Nigerians.
The US official said the US government was aware of the devastating impact corruption had on Nigeria and other societies, saying it erodes trust and the ability of governments to deliver dividends of democracy to citizens.
Her words: “It is in recognition of the role corruption plays in undermining democracy that the US considers the fight against corruption as a core national security interest. To that end, President Biden really supported the US strategy in countering corruption last December.”
The Ambassador assured that the United States will not be a safe haven for looted funds from any country in the world.
