WATCH THE VIDEO HERE Nigeria has received $52.88 million recovered Galactica assets linked to a former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, from the United States Government. The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) disclosed this at the formal signing ceremony of the asset agreement between Nigeria and the US in Abuja on Friday. Delivering his remarks, Mr Fagbemi explained that $50 million of the recovered assets will be deployed through the World Bank to the development of the rural electrification project and the remaining $2 million will be deployed to the International Institute of Justice to expand the Justice system and also counter corruption. Mr Fagbemi noted that the asset return marks a milestone in the ongoing collaboration between Nigeria and the US in combating corruption and upholding the rule of law He said the event is also a significant effort by President Bola Tinubu to address the issue of corruption. Meanwhile, in his remarks, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Richard Mills called for the monitoring and effectively utilizing the recovered assets by the Ministry of Justice to benefit Nigerians. Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke has been accused of abusing her power when she was petroleum minister under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan in Nigeria, including accepting financial rewards for awarding multi-million-pound contracts. In 2023, the United Kingdom National Crime Agency (NCA) alleged that Mrs Alison-Madueke benefited from at least £100,000 ($127,000) in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, flights on private jets, luxury holidays for her family, and the use of multiple London properties. Other charges against her also detail financial rewards, including furniture, renovation work and staff for the properties, payment of private school fees, and gifts from high-end designer shops such as Cartier jewellery and Louis Vuitton goods, the NCA said. Since she left office, she has been dogged by corruption allegations but denies the charges. The 63-year-old woman has been on bail since first being arrested in London in October 2015. The US Department of Justice has recovered assets totalling $53.1 million linked to Mrs Alison-Madueke’s alleged corruption.
Nigeria Receives $52.88m Assets Linked to Diezani Alison-Madueke
