ABUJA – Nigeria has made a headway in her efforts to recover looted funds stashed in different banks abroad by officials of past administrations.
This was the disclosure by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Abuja.
The president said that his administration has taken its efforts to recover looted Nigerian funds a step further by identifying banks, financial institutions and countries in which payments for stolen Nigerian crude oil have been deposited.
President Buhari, who spoke when he granted audience to United States Congressmen led by Rep. Darrel Issa in Abuja also acknowledged the support and cooperation his government was getting from the international community in gathering required intelligence for tracing and recovering stolen national resources.
“We are getting cooperation from the international community, including information on ships that take crude oil from Nigeria and change direction, or pour their contents into other ships mid-stream.
“Some monies were paid to individual accounts. We are identifying the financial institutions and countries that are involved.
“I have been assured that when we get all our documents together, the United States and other countries will treat our case with sympathy,’’ he said.
President Buhari assured the US federal lawmakers that he would welcome more regular meetings of the Nigeria-United States Bi-National Commission, noting that the Commission could serve as a more useful platform for the promotion of bilateral trade and economic relations as well as joint cooperation in the war against terrorism.
On a similarly tone , Rep. Darrel assured President Buhari that the United States will support Nigeria to rooting out Boko Haram by providing training, intelligence and military platforms.
“We look forward to helping you in many ways to end the Boko Haram insurgency and the theft of crude oil in the Gulf of Guinea,’’ he said.
(Vanguard)
