The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, on Tuesday disclosed that the £4.2m looted fund by the former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, has been returned to the state.
On March 9, 2021, the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, said the looted fund would be used for the construction of the second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano Road, and Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and not returned to the Delta State Government where it was looted from.
The Minister of Justice had argued that the law that was alleged to have been breached by Ibori was a federal law and the parties of interest involved in the repatriation of the funds were national and not sub-national governments.
“The major consideration relating to who is entitled to a fraction or perhaps the money in its entirety is a function of law and international diplomacy,” Malami made the statement during one of his appearances on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today.’
But the Accountant-General told the Ad Hoc Committee of the House of Representatives that the recoveries were made by the Federal Government on behalf of the states.
According to Idris, any recovery arising from looted funds from a particular state would go directly to the state.
“It was paid to Delta State,” he said when asked where the money was diverted to. “So such recoveries go specifically to those states. Honorable Chairman, any recovery arising from the looted funds from a particular state goes to the state. The state governors will not even allow this to fly.”
He went further that “Some recoveries are for some state governments, specific state governments. I know there was a time when recovery was made on behalf of Plateau State, there was one for Bayelsa, there was one for Delta,” he said when asked where the money was diverted to.
“You know they will not. They will take the Federal Government to court for holding their money. So we don’t joke or play with that, we pay them their money.”
The comment of the Accountant-General came a week after the Federal Government announced that it had received the £4.2 million seized from the associates of the former governor, who was convicted in the United Kingdom.
