Stolen funds: Nigeria recovered $763.7m, £6.4m since 2017 – Fagbemi
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has disclosed that the sum of $763,734,000 and £6,472,610 stolen funds were returned to Nigeria between 2017 and 2024. Speaking at the opening of the asset recovery summit of the ministry with the theme ‘Synergizing towards effective asset recovery and management’ on […]
prince lateef fagbemi san
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has disclosed that the sum of $763,734,000 and £6,472,610 stolen funds were returned to Nigeria between 2017 and 2024.
Speaking at the opening of the asset recovery summit of the ministry with the theme ‘Synergizing towards effective asset recovery and management’ on Tuesday, Fagbemi said of the sum, a total of $102.88 million and £2,062,000 (Galactica Assets $52.88 million, Glencore fined $50 million, Useni/Miner GBP 2,062,000) were recovered from 2024 to date.
He said the ministry had been working with its counterparts and international partners such as the US, UK, Bailiwick of Jersey, Ireland and Switzerland to facilitate the execution of various agreements and the recoveries, which were deployed in different projects.
“From 2017 to 2024, USD 659,900,000 and GBP 6,472,610 of recovered funds were invested in conditional cash transfer and to partly fund critical infrastructure development under the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund Projects (PIDF) namely – the Lagos Ibadan Expressway (LIE), 2nd Niger Bridge (2NB), and Abuja-Kano Road (AKR),” he said.
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“The conditional cash transfer project was monitored by a coalition of CSOs led by ANEEJ, with reports published on its websites.
“On the other hand, the CSO that monitored the utilisation of the recovered assets on the PIDF projects was CLEEN Foundation, with periodic reports published on its website, www.assetmonitoring.org.ng.
“The website of the CSOs and that of the Federal Ministry of Justice are digital platforms adopted by Nigeria to promote transparency regarding information on the executed agreements for the repatriation of assets and their management.”
In her remarks, the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Beatrice Jedy-Agba, advocated the empowerment of civil society organisations, journalists, and citizen-led initiatives to actively participate in tracking hidden wealth, advocating for responsible asset utilisation and strengthening the whistleblower policy.
In her remarks, the Executive Director of the African Centre for Governance, Asset Recovery and Sustainable Development (the African Centre, Mrs Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu, noted that Nigeria is leading Africa in asset recovery initiatives, including championing the United Nations resolutions on asset recovery and return, including beneficial ownership in line with the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) review mechanisms.