The federal government will appoint a foreign lawyer in
its effort to recover a total of N150 billion stashed abroad by late former
Head of State, General Sani Abacha and former Delta state governor, James
Ibori.
Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the
Federation Abubakar Malami announced this in Abuja yesterday while testifying
before the House of Representatives committee on Justice.
He said the money was made up N148. Billion ($750
million) allegedly laundered by Abacha and N1. 98 billion (£6.9 million) by Ibori.
Malami said the government would “engage in an aggressive
policy” to seek the cooperation of foreign governments to “ensure the
repatriation of illicitly-acquired assets.” According to him, “The
collaboration will equally involve the engagement of foreign-based counsel to
attend to the matters on behalf of the Federal Government.
“Low-hanging fruits being targeted in this initiative
include $750m of the ‘Abacha Loot’ as well as the sum of GBP6.9m of the ‘Ibori
loot.’”
The ministry would be in the position to coordinate the
recovery of billions of dollars in foreign jurisdictions based on current
estimations, he said.
Late Abacha, who ruled Nigeria between 1993 and 1998,
allegedly laundered about $5 billion abroad, according to Transparency
International.
Liechtenstein agreed to return $227 million in June 2014,
while the U.S. froze some $458m hidden by Abacha in bank accounts.
Switzerland had in the past returned about $700 million
and promised to return another $380m. The United States Department of Justice
(DOJ) announced in August, 2014, that it would repatriate about $480 million to
Nigeria.
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