The United Kingdom government is set to return to Nigerian government, over £4.2 million recovered from a former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, who was convicted of corruption charges in the U.K. in 2012.
The money translates to about N2.4 billion at the official exchange rate.
Representatives of both the U.K. and Nigerian governments signed an agreement for the return of the money to Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday.
The signing of the agreement, which took place at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja, was done under the auspices of the U.K.-Nigeria Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which came into force in 2016.
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The British High Commissioner, Catriona Laing, signed the agreement on behalf of the U.K. government while the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, signed it on behalf of the Nigeria government.
Ibori’s conviction
The about £4.2 million was recovered from Ibori, his associates and relatives.
Mr Ibori pleaded guilty to money laundering, conspiracy to defraud, and forgery in a U.K. court in February 2012.
He was sentenced to a total of 13 years in prison.
Some of his associates and family also received sentences for similar offences and were similarly sent to prison.
