- The Nigerian and U.S. governments have reached an agreement to return more than $23 million of Abacha loot.
The agreement was signed at a ceremony on Tuesday at the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami.
Mr. Malami signed on behalf of the Nigerian government, while Ambassador to Nigeria Mary Beth Leonard signed on behalf of the US government.
Upon the return of the loot, Malami said it would be invested in three ongoing federal projects, including the ongoing Abuja-Kaduna Road and the Second Niger Bridge.
Nigeria has in the past recovered some other parts of Abacha’s spoils, proceeds of which were alleged by General Sani Abacha’s military junta to have been transferred from the public treasury in the 1990s.
In 2006, approximately $723 million of Abacha loot was returned to Nigeria from Switzerland.
In 2020 alone, the United States also agreed to return more than US$308 million in seized funds to Nigeria.
Source: Channels