Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye,Abuja
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the commencement of the repatriation of stolen assets from the United States.
The agreement on the repatriation will be signed next week.
The looted assets to be repatriated from Island of Jersey belonging to late Nigerian military dictator, Sani Abacha, is $321 million.
Others to be repatriated include that of former Minister for Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, Kolawole Aluko and James Ibori, who was governor of Delta State from 1999 to 2007 put at €6.6 million.
Addressing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said council approved the asset-sharing tripartite agreement between Nigeria, Island of Jersey and the United States of America for the purpose of repatriation of looted assets.
He recalled that during Buhari’s first term, his administration had succeeded in the recovery of looted assets by over 1,300 percent.
The AGF said based on the Memorandum of Understanding reached by the three parties, the money would be spent on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, 2nd Niger Bridge and the Abuja-Kano Expressway.
Malami, however, explained that no figure had been placed on the Alison-Madueke asset to be repatriated.
Details later…