The Federal Government said, yesterday, that the United States Government has not blocked the repatriation of $550 million Abacha loot in its kitty.
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, made the clarification in a chat with Vanguard. According to Malami, the delay in drawing down the huge amount was merely bureaucratic and did not amount to being blocked by the US.
Malami said: “The amount in question cannot be said to have been blocked on account of lack of cooperation between the US and Nigeria but largely on account of bureaucratic and judicial bottlenecks.”
It will be recalled that some top officials of the current administration had last week raised alarm that the US had blocked huge proceeds of corruption being trapped in that country and chided it for not helping Nigeria to repatriate the cash.
Malami said Nigeria was still expectant and the bottlenecks would soon be cleared to pave the way for Nigeria to draw down the cash.
It will be recalled that a US court had in September last year cleared the legal hurdle for Nigeria to repatriate $550 million Abacha loot, which had been delayed by a Nigerian lawyer’s claim of 40 percent legal fees.
But when the case came up for hearing, Justice John Bates of the US District Court dismissed it, thereby, paving the way for the return of the loot to Nigeria to help it rejig its plummeting economy battered by falling oil prices and corruption.
Source: Vanguard
