The Federal Government has signed an agreement with the United States of America, USA, on the return of Mecosta/Sani Abacha assets, also referred to as Abacha V
Signing the agreement in Abuja on behalf of the Federal Government, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, said the money was part of the looted stolen funds traced to a former Military President, General Sani Abacha
Malami disclosed that the forfeited Mecosta/Sani assets were subsequently transferred to the National Crime Agency, which on the 7th of February this year, held the sum of over 23M Dollars, pending the execution of the asset return agreement between Nigeria and the US
The AGF expressed his gratitude towards the efforts of the Governments of the US and the United Kingdom in ensuring that looted funds recovered were returned to Nigeria not only in this case but in other pending cases such as Bayelsa, Galactica, Blue Trust and Saborne asset
The AGF therefore urged the Government of the United States not to relent in supporting Nigeria’s commitment to the speedy, transparent management of returned asset
The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Leonard, said the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation seized these funds in response to General Abacha and his associates’ violation of US laws when they laundered these assets through the US and into accounts in the United Kingdom