FG Returns £4.2m Ibori’s Loot To Delta State – AGF
BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Accountant General of the Federation, Mr Ahmed Idris, says the £4.2 million looted by former Governor James Ibori will be returned to Delta State treasury.
The money was recently repatriated to Nigeria from the United Kingdom for which the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), said it belongs to the Federal Government and can therefore not be shared with Delta State government.
But Idris, who announced the latest decision by the Federal Government on Tuesday, when he appeared before the House of Representatives’ Ad-hoc Committee on Assessment and Status of All Recovered Loot, Movable and Immovable Assets from 2002 to 2020 by Agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria for Effective, Efficient Management and Utilisation, said the loot is being processed to ensure Delta State takes custody of it soonest.
He told the House Committee that such funds looted from the treasury of a state were always returned to the affected state, stressing that states could sue the Federal Government to recover such funds.
The Accountant General’s position is at variance with that of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN) who declared last week that the money was returned on the basis of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed with the British Government that clearly spelt out how and on what projects the money would be spent, stressing that Nigeria cannot breach the terms of the MoU.
