A Royal Court in Jersey, United States, has ruled that stolen money worth £6.9m ($8.9m) be repatriated to Nigeria.
The said money was allegedly diverted by Nigerian government officials in 2014 during ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, under the guise of purchasing arms to fight Boko Haram terrorists.
According to the BBC, the court ruled that the money, deposited in a Jersey bank account was likely stolen by officials in the Nigerian Government in 2014.
Controversies had surrounded the purchase of weapons in the fight against insurgency with the then National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, being accused of diverting funds meant for security equipment during Jonathan’s administration.
Dasuki, a retired army Lieutenant Colonel, who was appointed by Jonathan in June 2012, was locked in a legal tussle with Nigeria’s state security services.
During Dasuki’s time in office, Nigeria was caught up in a money laundering scandal as South Africa seized two planes in 2014 carrying millions of dollars in cash allegedly for an arms deal.
When former President Muhammadu Buhari assumed power, his office used Twitter to share the president’s concern about the early findings of the probe.
“The findings made so far are extremely worrying considering that within the same period, our troops were in desperate need of ammo/equipment,” Buhari said on Twitter, now X
However, the order of the Royal Court in Jersey followed a forfeiture notice to the court by Jersey’s Attorney General, Mark Temple KC.
The court held that the funds were deposited in a Jersey bank account and were not used for the arms purchase.
Temple said the government of Jersey was in close partnership with Nigeria on the repatriation of the funds.
The AG claimed part of the funds were shared with family members of politicians in the then-ruling People’s Democratic Party ahead of the 2015 general election.
“This case again demonstrates the effectiveness of the 2018 Forfeiture Law in recovering the proceeds of corruption and restoring that money to victims of crime.
“I now intend to negotiate an asset return agreement with the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
Reacting to the development on Tuesday, the ruling All Progressives Congress described the People’s Democratic Party as a reckless party during Jonathan’s administration.
The APC Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, in an interview said, “This shows that the PDP government under President Goodluck Jonathan was reckless. That is also one of the reasons why Nigeria has rejected the party.
“Since coming to power, the APC has been injecting sanity into the economy, sanity into the system. And it’s bringing in all the ingredients of presidential guides to ensure that public funds are utilised in the way and manner they are earmarked.
“So this is a welcome development and I hope it will serve as a guide to allow our government to work in accordance with the financial provisions and ensure that whoever is given responsibility is held accountable.
“I am quite aware President Bola Tinubu has set up a desk that was not there before and put Hadiza Bala Usman in charge of coordinating and monitoring all public appointees holders to ensure that everything is done in line with the plans of the government, any deviation will attract sanctions.”
But, the PDP Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, alleged that the APC-led Federal Government was notorious for corruption.
He said, “I don’t trust this government and I don’t think they will utilise this money well. I don’t think so.
“I dare this government to prove me wrong. It is a government whose officials are notorious for corruption and one whose profligacy is legendary.”
