Nigeria receives $311m Abacha assets from US, Jersey

The Federal Government of Nigerian on Monday announced the repatriation of $311,797,866.11 recovered assets of Late General Sani Abacha.

The money was repatriated from the United States and the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Attorney-General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said in a statement.

The statement, signed by Malami’s spokesman Umar Gwandu, added that the litigation process for the return of the assets titled ‘Abacha III’ commenced in 2014 while the diplomatic process that culminated in the signing of the Asset Return Agreement commenced in 2018.

The agreement was signed on February 3 by the governments of Nigeria, the United States, and the Bailiwick of Jersey.

“This Agreement is based on international law and cooperation measures that sets out the procedures for the repatriation, transfer, disposition, and management of the assets,” he said.

Gwandu said the amount increased significantly from over $308 million mentioned in an earlier statement in February to over $311million as a result of the interest that accrued from February 3 to April 28, when the fund was transferred to the Central Bank of Nigeria.