Still smarting from its recent role in helping to repatriate $311m (N118bn) siphoned by the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, the United States says there is a separate $319m (N121bn) Abacha loot in the United Kingdom and France.
In a statement on Wednesday, the American Embassy in Nigeria said that there is $167m in stolen assets in France while there is a separate $152m in the UK which is being challenged in court.
Sections of the statement reads, “The funds returned last week are distinct and separate from an additional $167m in stolen assets also forfeited in the United Kingdom and France, as well as $152m still in active litigation in the United Kingdom.”
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Bloomberg had reported that the repatriation of the $152m (now $155m due to interest) to Nigeria is being challenged by the UK and the US due to certain complexities surrounding this repatriation.
Nigeria’s Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has, however, denied knowledge of the existence of such complications.
The US Department of Justice said in February urged its Nigerian counterpart to put all mercenaries in motion to ensure speedy repatriation of the looted assets.
While successive Nigerian governments have repatriated billions of dollars looted by Abacha, who died in office in 1998, the current regime of President Muhammadu Buhari said it is poised to divert this returned loot to massive infrastructural upgrade nationwide.
Abacha is estimated to have stolen as much as $5bn during his five-year rule.
Meanwhile, the US has said the $311m that was repatriated to Nigeria last week must be used by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority for three infrastructure projects in strategic economic zones across Nigeria, as authorized by the Nigerian government.
The recovered funds will help finance the construction of the Second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, and the Abuja-Kano road, the US said.
The agreement includes mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of these projects as well as external oversight.
