U.S To Repatriate Fresh $23m Abacha Loot To Nigeria

Category:  Nigeria News



The Nigerian government, on Tuesday, signed a fresh agreement with the U.S. government for the return of over $23 million looted by the late dictator Sani Abacha.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, represented the federal government at the agreement signing ceremony held at the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja on Tuesday.

Mary Leonard, U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, signed the agreement on behalf of her country. 

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She said $23 million adds to the $311.7 million Abacha loot repatriated from the U.S. to Nigeria in 2020.

Mr Malami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the decision to return the fresh tranche totaling $23,439,724, which he termed ‘Abacha-5’, was a product of series of tripartite negotiations between Nigeria, the U.S. 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 Infrastructural Funds, PIDF, projects namely; Abuja-Kano Road, Lagos-Ibadan Express Way and the Second Niger Bridge under the supervision of Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA.

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“The President’s mandate to my office is to ensure that all international recoveries are transparently invested and monitored by civil society organization to compete these three projects within the agreed timeline,” the AGF explained.