We have now gotten an update from the Federal Government on the newly discovered Abacha’s $300million loot.
Apparently, the Federal Government is still in talks with the United States of America and the Island of Jersey on the return of the $300m loot from former Head of State, late General Sani Abacha.
The negotiations which started about three years ago have now reached an advanced stage.
The Special Assistant to the President on Justice Sector Reform and National Coordinator for Open Government Partnership, Mrs Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu said thus:
“We have been in court over the fund; finally the court has agreed the money be refunded to Nigeria. The procedure requires that Nigeria, Jersey Island and USA should sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on how the funds should be managed,”
“President Muhammadu Buhari has approved that the fund be used for infrastructure. So it would be designated Infrastructure Fund. And when it finally comes to Nigeria, we don’t know how long it would take on the ongoing MoU and asset sharing agreement. When that is finalised, then the Government of Nigeria would now inform Nigerians that the fund has come to Nigeria.
“But the fund is not going to come to Nigeria until all these procedures have been put in place,” she added.
The late Abacha was in power from 1993 until his death in 1998.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government had received the sum of $752m Abacha loot from Switzerland in March, 2005, which was said to have gone into infrastructure.
Nigeria also received another $322.5m from Switzerland in December 2017, which is being used for cash transfers to the poor.
