The Presidency says the $311 million of Abacha loot returned to the country on Monday, May 4, has already been allocated, and will be used for vital and decades-overdue infrastructure development.
A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, noted that the funds will be used for construction of the Second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressways, creating tens of thousands of Nigerian construction jobs and local skills, which can then be useful in future projects.
The statement notes that part of the funds will also be invested in the Mambilla Power Project which, when completed, will provide electricity to some 3 million homes which translates to over 10 million citizens in our country.
The Presidency says that the receipt of the stolen monies and the hundreds of millions more that have already been returned from the United Kingdom and Switzerland are an opportunity for the development of the country.
The Presidential Media Aide said previous monies returned last year from Switzerland which is some $320 million are already being used for the government’s free school feeding scheme, a stipend for millions of disadvantaged citizens, and grain grants for those in severe food hardship. “Without these funds, the fight against Covid-19 would be even tougher”.
Garba Shehu pointed out in the statement that, the latest return is a testament to the growing and deepening relationship between the Government of Nigeria and the Government of the United States.
He noted that without the cooperation both from the UK Government, the US Executive branch and US Congress, Nigeria would not have achieved the return of the funds.
He recalled that for years many countries deemed successive Nigerian administrations as too corrupt, too venal and too likely to squander and re-steal the stolen monies so they did not return the funds.
Today, the US, UK and other jurisdictions have found the partnership with the nation of Nigeria they can finally trust.
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Shehu maintained that the Buhari Administration is committed to and is enacting total and zero tolerance to corruption in politics and public administration, adding that the days when government was seen and used by the political class as their personal ATM to empty are over.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
