The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) on Tuesday explained why the 4.2 million pounds loot recovered from a former governor of Delta State James Ibori and his associates will not return to the coffers of the state.
Instead, the chief law officer said, in a television program on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said the money recovered from the former governor will be used for federal projects.
Malami had earlier in the day signed an agreement with the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, for the return of the £4.2 million recovered from Ibori and his friends by the United Kingdom government.
The money, expected to arrive in the country within two weeks, the Minister said is expected to be used for the construction of the second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano road, and Lagos-Ibadan Express Way and not returned to the Delta State Government where it was pilfered from.
According to the Minister, “The major consideration relating to who is entitled to a fraction or perhaps the money in its entirety is a function of law and international diplomacy”.
He argued that the law that was alleged to have been breached by Ibori was a federal law and that the parties of interests involved in the repatriation of the funds were national and not sub-national governments.
“All the processes associated with the recovery were consummated by the federal government and the federal government is, indeed, the victim of a crime and not sub-national,” he said.
