The Federal Government yesterday said that it would soon embark on the recovery of additional $750 million said to be “Abacha loot” yet pending.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami disclosed this during an interactive session with the House of Representatives Committee on Justice in Abuja.
The Minister further stated that his ministry was aiming at recovering on behalf of the Federal Government £6.9 million said to have been misappropriated by a former governor of Delta State, James Ibori.
He said: “In respect of of the recovery of looted assets, the ministry will engage in an agree waive policy of using Mutual Legal Assistance Agreements or other bilateral and multilateral instruments to seek cooperation with other jurisdictions to ensure the repatriation of illicitly- acquired assets in foreign jurisdictions.
“The collaboration will equally involve the engagement of foreign- based Counsel to attend to matters on behalf of the Federal Government. Low- hanging fruits being targeted in this initiative include $750 million ‘Abaca loot’ as well as the sum of GBP 6.9 million of the ‘Ibori loot’.
“On the long run, the ministry will be in a position to coordinate the recovery of billions of Dollars in foreign jurisdictions, based on current estimations.”
On the issue of terrorism, the AGF said, “My ministry is currently processing approximately 800 terrorism cases for prosecution . The resources required for the successful prosecution of these cases as well as the general coordination of the Criminal Justice Sector as envisaged under the ACIA, were fully captured in the original proposal made by the ministry to the Ministry of Finance.
“The successful prosecution of the above priorities will require the necessary balance of personnel capacity including staff training, travels and tours, resource capacity in terms of adequate budgetary allocations and legislative support by the National Assembly through the passage of all requisite Bills, as may be presented by the executive arm.
“The anti-corruption campaign will involve the deployment of resources by the ministry to assess and prosecute the requisite cases in collaboration with the anti-corruption agencies, pursuit to the overriding powers of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice in Sections 150 and 174 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
“In respect of measures to ensure the expeditious prosecution of terrorism, the ministry’s efforts will be anchored on the successful implementation of the administration of criminal justice Act 2015, ACJA, and the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act 2013.”
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