L
LequteMan
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The federal government of Nigeria has had its attempt to repatriate a £300m stolen by late Gen. Sani Abacha from the State of Jersey (an autonomous British territory) blocked, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, has revealed.
According to The News, the process has been stalled, by a last minute legal objection by the people who spirited the money to the island.
Although Onyeama did not mention those who raised the objection, fingers are being pointed at the Abacha family or their lawyers. The other person mentioned in the Jersey loot was a former military governor of Lagos state. It was not clear whether he was the one who raised the objection .
The money was laundered on behalf of Abacha by Mr Raj Bhojwani, an Indian businessman who was sentenced to six years in prison by a Jersey court in 2010.
"Everything had been done to repatriate the money; it was no longer contested and then at the last minute, it was contested by the people who were supposed to forfeit the funds," Onyeama said. “So of course, the authorities in Jersey had to oblige. As much as they would have liked to just go ahead to repatriate it, they had to go through some legal procedures because that party will have their lawyers and then we will have to start going through legal issues all over again. So, that is the challenge.”
According to The News, the process has been stalled, by a last minute legal objection by the people who spirited the money to the island.
Although Onyeama did not mention those who raised the objection, fingers are being pointed at the Abacha family or their lawyers. The other person mentioned in the Jersey loot was a former military governor of Lagos state. It was not clear whether he was the one who raised the objection .
The money was laundered on behalf of Abacha by Mr Raj Bhojwani, an Indian businessman who was sentenced to six years in prison by a Jersey court in 2010.
"Everything had been done to repatriate the money; it was no longer contested and then at the last minute, it was contested by the people who were supposed to forfeit the funds," Onyeama said. “So of course, the authorities in Jersey had to oblige. As much as they would have liked to just go ahead to repatriate it, they had to go through some legal procedures because that party will have their lawyers and then we will have to start going through legal issues all over again. So, that is the challenge.”
