Skip to main content

Be Ready To “Replace” Returned $300m Abacha Loot If Misused, United States Tells Nigerian Government


Be Ready To “Replace” Returned $300m Abacha Loot If Misused, United States Tells Nigerian Government

According to the U.S. Justice Department, the money must be used for the agreed public projects highlighted in the agreement signed with it before the fund was returned to Nigeria.

The United States Government has told Nigeria to be ready to “replace” the $300m General Sani Abacha loot it returned to the country if the fund was misused. 
According to the U.S. Justice Department, the money must be used for the agreed public projects highlighted in the agreement signed with it before the fund was returned to Nigeria. 
The United States and the British dependency of Jersey agreed with the Nigerian Government in February to return the $300m Abacha loot, according to Reuters. 
The U.S. Justice Department outlined the so-called "claw back" provision in a response to a query from a powerful American senator questioning the prudence of returning the cash.
"Should any of the parties — including the United States —conclude that any of the returned funds had been used for an ineligible expenditure, a "claw-back" provision would then obligate the FRN (Nigeria) to replace fully any such improperly diverted monies," the letter said.
It did not specify how and to whom the money would be "replaced".
The provision is notable as Nigeria continues efforts to repatriate money allegedly stolen during Abacha's brutal regime from 1993 until his death in 1998.
Transparency International estimates that he stole as much as $5bn of public funds during that time. 


ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES WITH US

FOLLOW US ON 
TWITTER  @Paul65084696

Popular posts from this blog

IMF may approve Nigeria’s $3.4bn loan today

   There are strong indications   that the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund may approve the $3.4bn loan sought by Nigeria on Tuesday (today). Although the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had on April 6, while announcing that Nigeria had applied for the loan, said the funds were expected within six to 12 weeks, Reuters and Bloomberg reported that the IMF would meet over the request today. The reports quoted unofficial sources in the IMF. If approved, the loan would be among the largest allocations by the IMF to an African country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is expected that the IMF Executive Board would approve the loan having already approved similar requests for several countries. According to the IMF, about 102 countries applied for aid as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, had in a statement on April 7 said the organ...

Coronavirus - FG seeks COVID-19 patients for herbal drug trials

The Federal Government says there are pharmaceutical processes and standards that must be observed before endorsing any proposed herbal or homegrown drug for use by coronavirus patients in the country. The Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, made this known on Friday during a briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja. He said the health ministry would soon meet with scientists, researchers, and traditional medicine specialists in the country who have registered that they have one drug or the other for the treatment of Lethal virus. He noted that the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control would test such drugs to ascertain whether they are fit for human consumption, adding that such drugs would undergo clinical trials and this would require a few COVID-19 patients to willingly accept that the drugs be tested on them. Responding in Yoruba Language to a question asked by a reporter from an indigenous TV station, the ministe...

Lagos ‘lawyer’ disowned by NBA goes into hiding

Nigerians have expressed anger at a Lagos-based ‘lawyer’ and critic, Adeola Samuel-Ilori, after he was disowned by the Nigerian Bar Association. Lawyers and activists, who took to different social media platforms, said they were also shocked that Samuel-Ilori refused to respond to the disclaimer after several days. Our correspondent learnt that the ‘lawyer’ had switched off his phones and had remained incommunicado since the story broke. A top source said Samuel-Ilori had gone into hiding to forestall a possible arrest by the police. PUNCH Metro  had exclusively reported that the NBA said Samuel-Ilori’s name could not be found on the enrolment list of lawyers with the Supreme Court of Nigeria. The Ikeja, Lagos branch of the association, also said he was not a member of the group. However, Samuel-Ilori is said to be the Principal Partner of Lead Solicitors, a chamber of legal practitioners, in the Ogba area of Ikeja, Lagos. He was also said to have filed civil suits...