The Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, on Wednesday appealed to the Federal Government to return the £4.2 million recovered from ex-governor of the state, James Ibori, or invest it in specified projects in the state.

The federal government received the money from the United Kingdom on Tuesday.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who confirmed this in a statement, however, said the naira equivalent value of the total £4.2 million has been credited into the designated federal government’s account since May 10.

Okowa, who made the call at the quarterly interactive chat with journalists in Asaba, said the state government had written letters to the AGF and the Presidency and had appealed to them on the need to return the funds to the state or channel it to projects.

He said: “Now that the money is in the country we are in the process of making sure it is returned to the state.

“Letters have been written and we have made appeals to Mr. President and the Attorney General of the Federation.

“We asked for two things, it’s either the money is returned to us or the money is applied to projects in Delta State and we have suggested some projects to which the money can be applied. The £4.2 million is about N2.2 billion by current exchange rates.”