FG To Repatriate Looted £300m From Jersey – Minister
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, says the Federal Government is in the process of repatriating from Jersey the stolen £300m.
Onyeama stated this on Tuesday in Abuja at a news conference organised as part of activities to mark the one year anniversary of President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration.
Jersey, an independent, English-speaking territory with a mix of British and French cultures, is the largest of the Channel Islands located between England and France.
The minister said that the money in Jersey would have been repatriated but for a last minute objection by the people, who were supposed to forfeit it.
“We are just in the process of repatriating that in the UK itself. Sometimes very often what happens is that the people, who have ownership or who claim to have ownership (of the money) might bring up a defence.
“Like if you take the one in Jersey, it is like £300m or thereabout; now everything had been done to repatriate the money.
“It was no longer contested and then at the last minute, an objection was raised by the people, who were supposed to forfeit those funds.
According to the minister, the important thing is that the process has been engaged.
He said Nigeria would not relent in seeking to repatriate the alleged stolen funds.
He also said that the process of repatriation of looted funds stacked in other countries like Switzerland and the US was in progress.