Abacha loot: Nigeria signs tripartite agreement to recover $318m, others

The Federal Government has signed an agreement with the United States and the Island of Jersey to repatriate the sum of $318,460,329 looted by former military dictator, Sani Abacha.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ferdinand Nwonye, said in a statement that the agreement was sealed on Monday at the US Department of States in Washington DC.

Mr Nwonye said that as part of the rules of engagement the recovered funds would be used to fund three major projects – Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Abuja-Kano Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge.

The projects will be supervised by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority.

Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, signed the treaty on behalf of Nigeria.

Also present were the minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, and his counterparts from the ministry of industry, trade and investment; humanitarian affairs, minister of state for petroleum resources, national security adviser among others.

The delegates had left the country on Sunday for the annual three-day meeting of the United States-Nigeria Bi-national Commission in Washington DC.