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The Nigerian government is locked in a court battle with Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) over control of €180 million (£150 million) that was stashed abroad by Nigeria’s former Head of State, late Gen. Sani Abacha.
By yesterday’s official exchange rate of the British Pounds Sterling at N563, as seen on the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the money in contention is about N84.5 billion.
The United Kingdom’s The Telegraph reported that the case was again poised to spark fresh questions about dirty money flowing through the City of London.
In the latest legal tussle over the money, generally known in Nigeria as “Abacha loot”, the report stated that Nigeria wanted the crime-fighting agency, NCA, to release funds that it froze at the request of US authorities.
In May 2020, the federal government confirmed the receipt of $311 million looted by a late dictator, Abacha, repatriated from the United States and Island of Jersey.
According to Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, “The amount increased significantly from over $308 million to over $311 million because of the interest that accrued from February 3, 2020, to 28th April, 2020, when the fund was transferred to the CBN.”
It came after the recovery of $322 million from Switzerland in 2018.
At the time, Malami noted that the government had committed that the asset would support and assist in expediting the construction of three major infrastructure projects across Nigeria, namely, Lagos – Ibadan Expressway, Abuja – Kano Road, and Second Niger Bridge.
It was estimated that from 2007 to 2020, about $1.5 billion had been returned to Nigeria from different parts of the world.
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