Abacha Loot: $458million to return to Nigeria by US govt

 
The US is said to have seized about $550 million which had been corruptly obtained by Abacha and his associates under its 2013 Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

The United States of America is set to return $458million in funds looted by former dictator, Sani Abacha to Nigeria.

The US is said to have seized about $550 million which had been corruptly obtained by Abacha and his associates under its 2013 Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

The disclosure was made by Comrade Salihu Othman Isah, the media aide to Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami to Daily Trust on Sunday, September 4, 2016.

Isah added that a US-Nigerian lawyer, Godson Nnaka, had filed an appeal stalling the release of the funds after claiming to be entitled to a portion of the assets as compensation for legal services allegedly rendered to Nigeria.

Malami had spoken of Nnaka in August, blaming him for the delay in the fund recovery process.

“For the US, the only impediment is a Nigerian lawyer who has been constituting a threat to the repatriation of the funds,” Malami said.

“He has filed many court processes in the past few years demanding 40 per cent of the amount involved. He relied on a purported court injunction granted him in the last 14 years. Over the period of 10 years, the matter had gone through processes.

“At a point, he did not even have licence to operate in the US. His filings have been of concern to the US and the Federal Government. We are looking at the possibility of concluding the process at a Court of Appeal in the US,” he added.

Malami also said, at the time, that Switzerland is preparing to return $132million also looted by Abacha.

Switzerland has returned $723million in looted funds to Nigeria in the last 10 years.