Why Nigeria Risks Losing N218billion ABACHA'S Loot...

-

One of the issues believed to have been discussed by President Muhammadu Buhari and the visiting U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, during a closed-door meeting last Tuesday was the return of millions of dollars of Nigeria’s money looted by late military dictator, Sani Abacha.

However, Nigeria stands the risk of forfeiting a hefty N218.3 billion ($550 million) already recovered from Mr Abacha’s estate if a suit filed by an American-based Nigerian lawyer against the Nigerian government in a United States federal court is not quickly resolved.
Texas-based attorney, Godson Nnaka, who was contracted by the Nigerian government in 2004 to help find and recover funds siphoned by Mr Abacha and his associates, has asked the court to appoint him a private attorney general of the fund as well as award him 40 percent of the recovered fund. He claimed he made the request in line with United States law.
Mr. Nnaka has also accused the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, of demanding kickback of as much as 70 percent of his fees and acting in a vindictive manner after he turned down his demand. Mr. Malami strongly denied the allegations.
The Letter of Instruction
In 2004, Mr. Nnaka approached the Olusegun Obasanjo administration with a proposal to help find and recover millions of dollars stolen by Mr Abacha. Having convinced the government that he could trace and recover the looted funds, the Attorney-General of the Federation at the time, Akinlolu Olujimi, in a November 25, 2004 letter, instructed Mr Nnaka “to proceed in a professional manner to recover the funds on behalf of the country.”
“Government will only pay for your professional services a percentage as may be agreed for any sum actually recovered,” the letter added.
In a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2015, Mr Nnaka said he carried out the task. He claimed he hired a group of lawyer, financial consultants, and academics across the world to help identify and trace the funds.
He also said he travelled to France, England, Switzerland, Angola, Turkey, and Austria, to meet with government officials, law enforcement agents and financial experts with the aim of finding and securing the funds. READ FULL STORY HERE...

Comments

Post a Comment

The views expressed in comments published on my blog are those of the comment writers alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of queendoosh.com. Please take note.

Popular posts from this blog

NEW! Scientists Develop Vaccine For HIV/AIDs

-
Image
A new vaccine-based treatment for HIV has succeeded in suppressing the virus in five patients, raising hopes further research could help prevent Aids without the need for daily drugs. Independent of the United Kingdom reported on Friday that researchers combined two innovative HIV vaccines with a drug usually used to treat cancer in the trial, conducted over three years at the IrsiCaixa Aids Research Institute in Barcelona. After receiving the treatment, the virus was undetectable in five out of 24 participants and its spread was stopped by their immune systems, reported the New Scientist. One of them has been drug-free for seven months. Around 18 million people – half of all those living with HIV around the world – take ART to slow the progression of the infection, according to the UN. But these drugs are expensive and can cause unpleasant side effects. Patients have to remember to take them every day, sometimes over their entire lives. Mitchell Warren, executive dire...
NEXT PAGE »

Senate Indicts Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Over Loss of N1.6tr Revenue

-
Image
Nigeria's imediate past minister of Finance ,Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been indicted by the Nigerian senate over a N1.7t loss in revenue. According to the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Alleged Misuse, Under-Remittance and Other Fraudulent Activities, revenue agencies short-changed the Federal Government to the tune of N1.7tn as unremitted revenue generated between 2012 and 2016. The panel blamed it on a memo by a former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who allegedly issued the memo to the agencies to remit 25 per cent of revenue they generated to the Federal Government and spend 75 per cent on their expenditures. An interim report by the committee chaired by Senator Olamilekan Adeola, details this. The panel said the amount to be remitted to the Federal Government during the period by 93 agencies it investigated was N21.5tn. It alleged that 25 of the 93 agencies covered defrauded the government of a total of N1,695,585,887,406.
NEXT PAGE »