Controversy continues to dog Ibori loot, AGF recants money paid to Delta

 

The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, Wednesday retracted his earlier statement that the recovered Ibori loot had been paid to Delta State.

While not denying RELIABLESOURCENG.COM report quoting him as saying that the £4.2 million returned to Nigeria by the government of the United Kingdom had been transferred to Delta State, Idris clarified that issues surrounding the loot had “not been properly resolved”.

In a statement issued by the Director, Information, Press and Public Relations, OAGF, Mr. Henshaw Ogubike, Idris, said the money was still being awaited, after which the issues around it would be resolved before further action is taken.

“For now, no money has been returned to Delta State,” the statement stated.

The statement made it clear that the explanation was without prejudice to the proceedings at a public hearing during which the AGF commented about recoveries relating to state governments.

“This is the true position as regards the £4.2m Ibori Loot.

READ: FG returns £4.2m Ibori loot to Delta State

“The issue of the £4.2m Ibori Loot has not been properly resolved.

“The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) wishes to put the records straight regarding the widely circulated media report on the £4.2m Ibori Loot,” the AGF stated.

The Accountant General of the Federation, had on Tuesday claimed that the £4.2 million loot recovered from a former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, and his associates, which was recently repatriated from the United Kingdom, had been returned to Delta State.

The Accountant General had made the claim while appearing before the House of Representatives’ Ad hoc Committee on Assessment and Status of All Recovered Loots – Movable and Immovable Assets from 2002 to 2020 by Agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria for Effective, Efficient Management and Utilisation on Tuesday in Abuja.

He had explained that funds like that of Ibori which was looted from the treasury of a state were always returned to the state.

READ: Ibori loot not yet in our account – Delta

Asked during the hearing if recovered loots were only for the federal government, he had said: “Depending on the nature of recovery. I think there is a need to have an in depth understanding of this. Some recoveries are for state governments – specific state governments. I know there was a time recovery on behalf of Plateau, there was one for Bayelsa, there was one for Delta. Such recoveries go specifically to those states.”

When further asked where the Ibori loot was paid into, Idris without mincing words, had said it was paid to Delta State government.

When he was reminded that his claim was contrary to the stance of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who had said the agreement the federal government had with the British government was to use the repatriated loot to complete specific ongoing projects, Idris had said, “No, no, any recovery that is arising from looted funds from a particular state goes to the state. The state governors will not even allow this to fly. They will take the federal government to court for holding their money. We don’t joke and we don’t play with that, we pay them their money.”