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Returned $311m Abacha loot to be used for infrastructure —Presidency
The Presidency said Tuesday the $311 million recovered from the family of the late former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, had been allocated to the development of infrastructure in the country.
In a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the Presidency said the funds had already been allocated to vital and decades-overdue projects like the second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano expressways and in the Mambilla Power Project.
The statement read:
“On Monday, May 4, 2020, some $311 million US Dollars – stolen from the citizens of Nigeria during the Abacha regime – were safely returned to our country from the United States.
“These funds have already been allocated, and will be used in full, for vital and decades-overdue infrastructure development: The second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano expressways – creating tens of thousands of Nigerian construction jobs and local skills, which can then be useful in future projects.
“Part of the funds will also be invested in the Mambilla Power Project which, when completed, will provide electricity to some three million homes – over 10 million citizens – in our country.
” The receipt of these stolen monies – and the hundreds of millions more that have already been returned from the United Kingdom and Switzerland – are an opportunity for the development of our nation, made far harder for those decades the country was robbed of these funds.
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“Indeed, previous monies returned last year from Switzerland – some $320 million – are already being used for the government’s free school feeding scheme, a stipend for millions of disadvantaged citizens, and grain grants for those in severe food hardship.”
“Without these funds, the fight against COVID-19 would be even tougher.”
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