Abacha Loot: FG says corrupt people hindering the recovery of £300m from Jersey

The Bailiff of Jersey, Mr Micheal Birt, had earlier promised to release £315m, after initially repatriating £140m in 2014.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, has revealed that the Nigerian government’s attempt to recover another huge sum from the Abacha loot hidden abroad, has hit a brick wall.

Reports say about £300m from the stolen funds, was stashed away in an autonomous British territory, Jersey.

The Bailiff of Jersey, Mr Micheal Birt, had earlier promised to release £315m, after initially repatriating £140m in 2014.

Onyeama said “Often times, what happens is that the people who claim to have ownership will come up with a challenge. For instance, the one in Jersey is about £300m. Everything had been done to repatriate the money; it was no longer contested and then at the last minute, it was contested by the people who were supposed to forfeit the funds.

“So of course, the authorities in Jersey had to oblige. As much as they would have liked to just go ahead to repatriate it, they had to go through some legal procedures because that party will have their lawyers and then we will have to start going through legal issues all over again. So, that is the challenge.”

The minister said this on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, at a press conference held to mark 365 days of President Buhari in office.

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