Government In Nigeria Retrieve $700m Robbed Funds From Foreign Countries In Four Years-malami

Nigerian government has recovered over $700 million stolen funds hid in foreign countries for the past four years, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has said.

He said the recoveries were made possible through “proactive and collaborative” efforts from foreign nations such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Bailiwick of Jersey, Switzerland, and Ireland.

Mr Malami spoke on Tuesday at the International Conference on Illicit Financial Flow (IFF) and Asset Recovery organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

He disclosed that developing countries in Africa lost over $148 billion to corruption annually partly due to IFFs.

“Nigeria, through energetic and coordinated efforts with other countries has recovered and ensured the return of over $700 million from the United States, the United Kingdom, Bailiwick of Jersey, Switzerland, and Ireland in the past four years.

“We are still working with our international partners and other countries to ensure that all Nigeria’s assets that are identified are recovered,” he said.

Mr Malami had also, on Tuesday, said that the country had received a fresh £4.2million (at N2.9billion at unofficial exchange rate) from the United Kingdom recovered from the convicted former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori’s associates and family members.

His spokesperson, Umar Gwandu, disclosed this via a statement disseminated to journalists.

Many Nigerians have, however, repeatedly expressed concerns about the true state of the recovered loot and its transparent utilisation of the recovered funds especially as the government junkets around the globe to borrow funds.