Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) has revealed the reason the £4.2m seized from a former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, and his associates from United Kingdom has not been returned to the country.
The Minister of Justice, on Monday, stated that the delay in the return of the recovered loot has been due to issues around bank documentations.
He stated that although the Federal Government had anticipated two weeks within which the loot would have been repatriated but the government is not in control of the banks.
The minister’s Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Dr Umar Gwandu, disclosed this in a statement titled ‘Ibori loot expected soon -Malami’.
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The minister, however, assured Nigerians that the government is working tirelessly to ensure the return of the Ibori loot and other looted Nigerian assets kept outside the country’s territorial boundaries.
He explained further that sometimes when a country transfers funds, it may take a little bit time more than expected due to some documentations.
Documentations with the banks in different countries often take longer than anticipated.
“We anticipated two weeks but we are not in control of the banks,” the statement quoted Malami as saying.