Nigeria to repatriate former dictator’s loot

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) of Nigeria has approved proposals to repatriate the vast assets looted by the country’s former dictator Gen Sani Abacha from the United States and Jersey. 

The recovery deal includes $321m belonging to the late general, as well as $7.6m in assets recovered from former Nigerian Delta State Governor James Ibori. It will also repatriate various assets linked to former minister Diezani Alison-Madueke and businessman Kolawole Aluko. 

Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami told local media that, once recovered, the former dictator’s assets would be spent on large-scale infrastructure projects, including the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the second Niger Bridge and the Abuja-Kano Expressway. 

He added that a formal agreement for the return of the funds will be signed next week and that thereafter it would take several months for the money to reach Nigeria.

Gen Sani Abacha was Nigeria’s de facto president during the period 1993 - 1998. He is credited with enacting major economic reforms in the country, but also overseeing a period of unprecedented corruption, during which time he and his family are alleged to have embezzled between $1 billion and $5 billion.  

Photo credit: Getty Images | AFP