The US government has reached an agreement with the federal government to return $23 million in Abacha loot to Nigeria.
The agreement was signed on Tuesday at the office of Abubakar Malami, the federation’s minister of justice and attorney-general.
Malami stated in his speech that the decision to return the stolen funds, dubbed the ‘Abacha-5,’ was the result of a series of negotiations and meetings between Nigeria, the US Department of Justice, and the UK National Crime Agency.
According to the attorney-general, the Abacha loot will be used to complete the Abuja-Kano road, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, and the Second Niger Bridge.
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“It is worthy to note that in line with the terms of this agreement, Mr. President had already approved the funds to be utilized for the ongoing presidential development infrastructural funds, PIDF, projects namely; Abuja-Kano road, Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the second Niger bridge under the supervision of Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA),” Malami said.
“The president’s mandate to my office is to ensure that all international recoveries are transparently invested and monitored by civil society organizations to compete for these three projects within the agreed timeline.”