The United Kingdom is blocking the plan of the Nigerian
government to pay $110 million believed to be a part of funds looted by the
late Sani Abacha to Abubakar Bagudu, governor of Kebbi state.
According to Bloomberg, the governments of Nigeria, the UK
and the US, are in a dispute over investment portfolios worth 141 million euros
($155 million) linked to Abacha and held in trust for Bagudu and his family.
Nigeria is seeking the approval of a UK court to take
ownership of the assets before returning 70% of the proceeds to Bagudu under
the terms of a 2018 deal.
Bloomberg reported that the UK government’s National Crime
Agency “is opposing the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s application,” according
to a motion filed by Bagudu’s brother, Ibrahim, to the district court for the
district of Columbia in the US capital on March 30.
The US Department of Justice said in February that its
Nigerian counterpart is hindering its efforts to recover the allegedly
laundered money from the UK.
The US department of Justice is accusing Bagudu, 58, of
being a part of a network controlled by Abacha that “embezzled, misappropriated
and extorted billions from the government of Nigeria”.
While successive Nigerian governments have repatriated
billions of dollars looted by Abacha, who died in office in 1998, the
administration of President Muhammadu Buhari says it is prevented from
assisting the US’ ongoing forfeiture efforts by an agreement between Bagudu and
a previous government in 2003
An estimate of $5 billion is said to have been stolen from
Nigeria during Abacha’s five-year rule.
The 2003 settlement, which was approved by a UK court,
allowed Bagudu to return $163 million to Nigeria “without admitting to
wrongdoing,” according to US court filings.
In return, the government dropped all outstanding civil and
criminal claims against him.
Bagudu was elected a senator in 2009 and the governor of
Kebbi six years later.
Five years after the US launched fresh forfeiture
proceedings against him, Bagudu and the Buhari administration struck a new
accord in October 2018 to transfer ownership of the investment portfolios to
the Nigerian state, which would immediately pay 98.5 million euros to the Kebbi
governor and his affiliates.
Bloomberg said the terms of the updated settlement cannot be
implemented while Nigeria’s application in a UK court is pending and a freezing
order is still in place, according to a motion by Ibrahim Bagudu, who is
entitled to a $100,000 annuity from the funds and is contesting the US
confiscation efforts.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com