*Late General Sani Abacha emptied the treasury of Nigeria, which he stashed in foreign banks. It is a systematic characteristic of Nigerian leaders
After many years of legal battles and negotiations, the federal government confirmed that they have received through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) approximately $311,797,866.11 of the Abacha assets repatriated from the United States of America and the Bailiwick of Jersey.
This confirmation was made on Monday by Mr. Abubakar Malami SAN, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice. This information was contained in a press release, which was issued by the Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Dr Umar Gwandu.
The release also stated that the amount increased significantly from over $308 million mentioned in the press release, which the agency earlier issued in February, 2020 to over $311million because of the interest that accrued from February 3, 2020 to April 28, 2020 when the fund was transferred to the CBN. It is titled “Abacha III.” Providing further clarification, he said the process of repatriating the looted funds to Nigeria commenced way back in 2014 while the diplomatic process that culminated into the signing of the Asset Return Agreement on February 3, 2020 by the Governments of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, United States of America and the Bailiwick of Jersey commenced in 2018.
He added, “This Agreement is based on international law and cooperation measures that sets out the procedures for the repatriation, transfer, disposition and management of the assets”, he said. Malami who led the negotiation team noted that the Tripartite Agreement and the process towards the implementation represents a major watershed in
International Asset Recovery and Repatriation as it seeks to provide benefit to the victims of corruption.