The Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has revealed that negotiation with Switzerland on the return of $321 million recovered from the late Abacha family had been concluded, adding that Nigeria recently recovered $85 million from the controversial Malabu Restrained Funds from United Kingdom.
Salihu Isah, Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to Mr. Malami said the attorney general stated this in his opening remarks at the Pre-Global Forum on Asset Recovery, GFAR, Consultative meeting with the theme: Building an Ending Framework for Asset Recovery in Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja.
Mr. Malami stressed further that with the conclusion of negotiation, the Memorandum of Understanding will be signed by parties at the Global Forum on Assets Recovery meeting coming up on December 4 to 6 in Washington and that the repatriation would follow within weeks as agreed by the parties.
He affirmed the need for the international community to ensure the implementation of the measures considered and adopted at the London Anti-Corruption Summit in May, 2016.
The AGF also emphasised that Nigeria is more than willing to support the transparent return of stolen assets.
He equally urged the international community to improve on procedure for faster return of assets to enable Nigeria meet the sustainable development goals.
“It is widely acknowledged that corruption undermines economic development, political stability, rule of law, social development, disrupts social order and destroys public trust in the governance system. It is an established fact that corruption which is linked to organised crime, terrorism and insecurity is one of the reasons for underdevelopment,” he stated.
