Abacha $5bn Loot: Family coughs out $1.9bn, see list of other recoveries in the last 24 years

The government of the United States has signed an agreement to repatriate $23 million looted by the former military ruler of Nigeria, General Sani Abacha.

This was disclosed by Attorney General, Abubakar Malami at the signing of the agreement in Abuja.

He said the stolen funds which are tagged ‘Abacha-5’ were products of a series of negotiations and meetings between Nigeria, the US department of justice and the UK National Crime Agency.

Malami also confirmed that President Buhari has approved that the recovered loot be used for the completion of the Abuja-Kano road, Lagos-Ibadan expressway, and the Second Niger Bridge.

“The president’s mandate to my office is to ensure that all international recoveries are transparently invested and monitored by civil society organizations to complete these three projects within the agreed timeline,” Malami said.

US ambassador to Nigeria Mary Leonard disclosed that the US department of justice and the FBI seized these funds in response to “General Abacha and his associates’ violation of US laws” when they laundered these assets to the US and into accounts in the UK.

“These actions were a flagrant breach of the Nigerian people’s trust. But today is the result of an extensive and high-level corporation between the US, UK and the federal republic of Nigeria to make the Nigerian people whole,” Leonard said.

“This agreement is also a kind of collaboration that our government must continue in order to right the wrongs committed under the previous regimes.

“Combined with a $311.7m seized and repatriated with the assistance of the Bailiwick of Jersey and the government of Nigeria in 2020, this repatriation brings the total amount of funds repatriated in this case by the US to more than $334.7 million.

“In other words, these recovered criminal proceeds, like the $311.7m previously seized and repatriated, will be transformed into a visible and impactful representation of the possibilities of government assets that directly improve the lives of average Nigerians.

Sani Abacha’s estimated loot is $5 billion with $3.65 billion recovered in 24 years.

Following the latest recovery, MyNigeria lists the total amounts recovered, the year they were recovered as well as their origin of recovery. Sources of the statistics include Transparency International, the Nigerian government, World Bank, and Attorney General Report Jersey.

1) In 1998, $750m was recovered from the Abacha family.

2) In 2000, $64m was recovered from Switzerland.

3) In 2003, $160m was recovered from Jersey.

4) In 2003, $88m was recovered from Switzerland.

5) In 2002, $1.2bn was recovered from the Abacha Family.

6) In 2005, $461.3m was recovered from Switzerland.

7) In 2006, ＄44.1m was recovered from Switzerland.

8) In 2014, $227m was recovered from Liechtenstein.

9) In 2022, $23m was recovered from the USA.

10) In 2020, $311.7m was recovered from the USA.

11) In 2018, $322m was recovered from Switzerland.