Victor EzejaA Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Wahab Shittu, has said the United States government has the right to monitor the utilisation of recovered funds linked to a former Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Alison-Madueke was accused of looting millions of dollars belonging to Nigeria when she served as a minister under former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe United States government repatriated $52.88 million linked to the former minister to Nigeria. The funds were said to be from the forfeiture of the Galactica assets linked to Alison-Madueke and her associates.
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, who made this known at the formal signing ceremony of the asset agreement between Nigeria and the United States in Abuja on Friday, explained that $50 million of the recovered assets will be deployed through the World Bank for rural electrification project in Nigeria. He further stated that the remaining $2 million will be deployed to the International Institute of Justice (IIJ) to expand the Justice system and also fight corruption.
In his remarks, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, emphasised the need for monitoring the utilisation of the recovered assets for the benefit of Nigerians.
Speaking during his appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Friday evening, Shittu said the US government deployed enormous resources in the process of recovering the looted funds and it is in its strategic interest to ensure that the funds are properly utilised and not stolen. He said the US is entitled to put in place measures to ensure that the funds are properly utilised.
Shittu stated that there have been allegations in the past about recovered funds being re-looted.
READ ALSO: Nigeria Receives $52.88m Diezani Alison-Madueke’s Loot From US
He said: “The recovery was facilitated by the US government and the US government has deployed enormous resources in ensuring that this recovery was made. I think it is also in the strategic interest of the US to ensure that the funds recovered is utilized, I mean, is not re-looted. There have been allegations in the past of looted funds that were recovered being re-looted. I think the US wants to be sure that the recovered loot is applied for the benefit of Nigerian people.
“They are entitled to put in place safeguards because they are the one who facilitated the recovery.”
He maintained that the items to which the recovered funds are to be applied have beneficial effect on Nigerian people. He stressed that deploying part of the fund to rural electrification through the World Bank would boost energy supply in the country which translates to meaningful development.
According to him, the issue of enhancing justice delivery system and fighting corruption are critical to survival of democracy and progress in the country. “There is no democracy that can be achieved without sustaining the elements of justice or enhancing the quality of our justice delivery system,”Shittu stated.
He said Nigeria must have had a mutual agreement with the US on the deployment of the recovered funds to developmental projects to ensure transparency and accountability.
Alison-Madueke has been in the United Kingdom since the end of Jonathan’s administration and has not appeared before Nigerian courts to answer for the charges against her.
Shittu said the Nigerian government has not been able to prosecute the former minister because of complex extradition procedures.
He said there are judicial procedures and international administrative protocols that must be complied with before she is extradited to Nigeria.
According to him, successive governments have made efforts to bring Diezani Alison-Madueke back to Nigeria to face trials but “legal and extra-legal hurdles remain a significant challenge.”
“You know the extradition procedures of getting somebody who has taken flight from one country to another involve legal compliance procedures that must be satisfied before someone can be extradited to Nigeria,” Shittu said.
Prime Business Africa recalls that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had alleged that Alison-Madueke stole $2.5 billion from Nigeria’s coffers when she served as minister.
However, only $52.88 million has been recovered in about a decade after.
Alison Madueke and four other people were detained in the UK in October 2015 on allegation of bribery and money laundering.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) in the United Kingdom stated in August 2023 that they suspected Alison Madueke of accepting bribes in exchange for giving multi-million-pound oil and gas contracts.
Also, commenting on the recovered loot, former lawmaker, Senator Abubakar Yusuf, said he and others had right from 2003 when the EFCC was established, advocated setting in place a system that prevents public officials from looting money, but they are only focused on prosecution of offenders and asset recovery which has not yielded any significant outcome.
He lamented that out of $2.5 billion earlier declared by the EFCC, only $52.88 million has been recovered.
Yusuf advised that more efforts should be on preventing looting of public funds in the first place.
Speaking on the deployment of the recovered funds, the ex-lawmaker said US interference in determining how the money will be spent shows that they do not trust Nigeria.
He kicked against the decision of the US in the process for repatriation of the looted funds, saying: It is not fair to Nigeria.”
He called on the Nigerian government to resist attempts by foreign countries to dictate how it spends looted funds that recovered.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
