The government of Jersey, Britain’s autonomous dependency in the Channel Islands between England and France, will return more than $300 million seized from former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha.
A huge sum withdrawn from a Jersey bank account of a shell company in Doraville in June 2019 will be used to finance three major infrastructure projects in Nigeria, Channelstv reports.
This follows the signing of an agreement between Nigeria and the United States of America and the island of Jersey to repatriate the sum of US$318,460,329 looted by Abacha during his military rule in the 1990s.
The money was laundered in the United States in the 1990s under President Sani Abacha before being transported to the Channel Islands, the BBC reports, citing the Jersey Civil Asset Recovery Fund.
The governments of Nigeria, the United States and Jersey signed an agreement this week. As part of the repatriation agreement, Jersey will withhold $5 million and the United States will be entitled to it.
Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami signs the tripartite agreement on behalf of Nigeria.
Speaking to journalists, he said the agreement would speed up the return of the loot to Nigeria, stressing that the funds would be invested in developing the country’s infrastructure. “With the consent of the parties, the looted lands will be used for the construction of roads including the Abuja-Kano Expressway, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and even the Second Niger Bridge,” he told Vanguard.
“This is a clear demonstration of the accountability and transparency of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.”
“This clearly shows that international trust in Nigeria has continued to be restored in terms of transparency and accountability as we have so far in 2018 recovered US$322 million from Switzerland on the assumption that the funds for the investment program for social issues should be used.” they were financed expected,” Malami added.
Premium Times reports that the amount is the largest single asset repatriation the Jersey Island has undertaken, and among the largest in the world.
This is the latest in a series of other funds stolen by Mr. Abacha and his family, repatriated from Europe and the United States, which the Nigerian media now describes as the Abacha loot.
Meanwhile, the United States has urged that the soon to be repatriated money must be placed in a secured account by the Nigerian government.
Nigeria would be required to replace the fund if it is stolen from the account, the United States warned.
“In order to ensure responsible use of funds and for the good of the nation, the agreement provides for mechanisms to monitor the implementation of these projects as well as external monitoring and obliges Nigeria to return any funds lost due to further corruption or fraud in the country. An account in which the returned goods are held.
“This about-face reflects a growing international consensus that countries must work together to ensure the return of stolen assets in a transparent and accountable manner.”
