The visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to U.S. President Donald Trump has led to the finalisation of negotiations to repatriate more than $500m (about N190bn) of Nigeria’s looted money traced to the U.S.
Nigeria’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Washington, DC, that he and the Attorney-General of the U.S. would be meeting last Tuesday to finalise the agreement.
Malami explained that the technicalities involved were being taken care of by both officials of the Nigerian government and also from the U.S. side.
He said: “On the part of assets recovery, we have made considerable progress through this visit.
“There’s goodwill by the two presidents to have a road map for the repatriation of illicit funds and assets traced to the U.S. as proceeds of illicit transactions.
“This illicit funds and assets are to the tune of $500m and above for immediate repatriation. We are looking at the shortest practicable time for it to be repatriated.
“There is political commitment demonstrated by the two presidents.
“The over $500m is not all the recovery, it is only for the immediate repatriation while we continue with our efforts to recover more.”
PUNCH
