The Federal Government, on Tuesday, signed a fresh agreement with the Government of the United States of America, USA, for the repatriation of a total sum of $23, 439, 724 that was allegedly looted by the late former military Head of State, General Sani Abacha.
At the agreement signing ceremony held at the Federal Ministry of Justice Headquarters in Abuja, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami signed for Nigeria while the US government was represented by its Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard.
AGF Malami, SAN, said the decision to return the stolen loot which he tagged as Abacha-5, was a product of a series of negotiations and meetings between Nigeria, the US Department of Justice and the UK National Crime Agency, NCA.
“It is worthy to note that in line with the terms of this Agreement, Mr. President had already approved the funds to be utilized for the ongoing Presidential Development Infrastructure Funds, PIDF, projects namely; Abuja-Kano Road, Lagos-Ibadan ExpressWay and the Second Niger Bridge under the supervision of Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA
“The President’s mandate to my office is to ensure that all international recoveries are transparently invested and monitored by civil society organizations to complete these three projects within the agreed timeline”, Malami stated.
He further stated that Nigeria is hopeful that other pending cases such as “Bayelsa, Galactica, Blue Trust and Seaborne assets” would be resolved in Nigeria’s favour.
