Nigeria is set to receive 9.5 milion dollars, approximately 14 billion naira, from the United Kingdom, which are part of sums a British Court has ruled are proceeds of a corruption scheme involving third party contractors and Nigerian officials.
This is according to a statement from the British High Commission in Abuja.
Nigeria’s Attorney General, Lateef Fagbemi and his UK counterpart, Mark Temple, have signed an agreement to this effect.
This will add to the over 300 million U.S dollars already repatriated to Nigeria in two years from huge sums forfeited by a British Court in the Island of Jersey.
The statement adds that the latest sum will be used to fund the Abuja- Kano Expressway construction project.
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Nigeria’s Attorney General, Fagbemi said at the MoU signing:
“The successful recovery and repatriation of the forfeited assets, underscores the effectiveness of Nigeria’s collaborative efforts with its international partners in ensuring that there is no safe haven for illicitly acquired wealth or assets moved to foreign jurisdictions.”
The UK Attorney General, Mark Temple said:
“This successful return demonstrates the strength of our civil forfeiture legislation as a powerful tool in the fight against corruption. I thank the Nigerian authorities for their cooperation and the Economic Crime and Confiscation Unit in my Department for their unwavering commitment to recover the proceeds of crime.”
(Editor: Ebuwa Omo-Osagie)
