The United Kingdom, UK, has expressed its readiness to return looted assets by former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, worth £4.2 million to Nigeria.
The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ms. Catriona Laing, said the assets were part of those recovered from Ibori’s friends and family members.
Laing disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at a ceremony to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between both countries.
The British envoy assured that more of such recoveries from Ibori’s case would be returned to Nigeria in due course.
She disclosed that the sum was the first tranche of such planned returns.
Laing said the Ibori’s case is complicated and the UK authorities were still working on the total amount involved.
Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who signed for the country, disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that the returned loots be deployed for completion of the second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the Abuja to Kano expressway.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK