US Government To Return $23m Abacha Loot

Nigeria and the United States government have reached an agreement on the return of over $23 million of the Abacha loot.

Nigeria and the United States government have reached an agreement on the return of over $23 million of the Abacha loot.

The agreement signing ceremony was held in the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami on Tuesday.

While Mr Malami signed on behalf of the Nigerian government, the U.S Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard signed on the behalf of the U.S government.

According to Mr Malami, the fund when returned will be invested in three ongoing projects by the Federal Government, including the ongoing Abuja-Kaduna road and the 2nd Niger Bridge.

Recall that some months back Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) recovered more than $23 million stolen from Nigeria by the country’s late military dictator Sani Abacha.

Abacha ruled Africa’s most populous nation and top oil exporter from 1993 until his death in 1998, a period during which he stole up to $5 billion of public money, according to Transparency International. He was never charged.

The money recovered in Britain forms part of a larger pool of funds identified by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as having been misappropriated by Abacha and his associates, the NCA said in a statement.