US Moves to Repatriate $53m Linked to Diezani

The United States Government and the Federal Republic of Nigeria have signed a memorandum of understanding to repatriate the sum of $53 million stolen funds to Nigeria.

The funds were part of funds of the Galactica asset linked to former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

Speaking during the signing, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) said the agreement provides that $50 million of the funds, which is about N77 billion, will be used to fund rural electrification project to increase the reliability and availability of renewable energy in Nigeria.

The minister added that the balance of $2.88 million will be disbursed as a grant by Nigeria to the International Institute for Justice (IIJ) to support “the Rule of Law and Counter-Terrorism Project,” through counter-terrorism capacity building for criminal justice sector practitioners in East, West, and North Africa.

While commending the United States for their cooperation towards the recovery, he assured that measures have been put in place to ensure transparency in the utilisation of the funds.

“I would like to express our gratitude to the United States Government, for their steadfast support and cooperation in this endeavour,” Fagbemi said.

“Your commitment to justice and the rule of law has been instrumental in making this agreement a reality.

“However, I implore you to continue to demonstrate the usual cooperation and understanding in other pending cases of repatriation, so that the Agreements in relation thereto can be concluded as soon as possible, as Nigeria is in dire need of these refunds.”

In his response, the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills expressed the government’s trust in the Nigerian government’s determination to apply the funds transparently, adding that, without it, they would not have signed the repatriation agreement.