A deal to return $23 million to Nigeria that was stolen by former Leader of the country’s Junta General Sani Abacha has been inked by the US government.
Abubakar Malami, Nigeria’s attorney general and minister of justice, stated at the agreement’s signing in Abuja that the decision to return the money, known as the “Abacha-5,” was the result of discussions and talks between Nigeria, the US Department of Justice, and the UK National Crime Agency.
According to the attorney general, President Muhammadu Buhari has given the go-ahead for the seized money to be used to pay for the construction of the Second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, and the Abuja-Kano road.
“The president’s mandate to my office is to ensure that all international recoveries are transparently invested and monitored by civil society organisations to compete for these three projects within the agreed timeline,” Malami said.
US ambassador to Nigeria Mary Leonard disclosed that 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 claimed that the US government is aware of the terrible effects that corruption has on Nigeria and other countries, claiming that it undermines confidence and governments’ capacity to provide citizens with the benefits of good governance.
“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,” Leonard said.
Leonard reaffirmed that the United States will not serve as a sanctuary for stolen money from any nation in the world.
