Nigeria and the United States government have reached an agreement on the return of over $23 million of the Abacha loot

The agreement signing ceremony was held in the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami on Tuesday, August 23. 

Mr. Malami signed on behalf of the Nigerian government and the U.S Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, signed on the behalf of the U.S government. 

According to Mr Malami, the fund when returned will be invested in three ongoing projects by the Federal Government, including the ongoing Abuja-Kaduna road and the 2nd Niger Bridge. 

Nigeria has in the past recovered several other tranches of the Abacha loot. 

In 2006, about $723 million in Abacha loot was returned to Nigeria from Switzerland. 

In 2020, the US and Jersey also agreed to return over $308 million in confiscated funds to Nigeria.