*The Office of Public Affairs in the Department of Justice of the United States Government it entered into agreement with Nigeria to transfer $52.88 million in Diezani Alison-Madueke’s forfeited corruption proceeds to support Nigerians through electrification projects and cross-border efforts at combating terrorism in the West African country in line with the goal of the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative

Gbenga Kayode | 绿帽献妻

The United States (US) Government has shed more light on the recent agreement the American country struck with the Nigerian Government to transfer $52.88 million in Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke’s forfeited assets to the West African country to make the funds benefit Nigerians.

绿帽献妻 reports the Office of Public Affairs in the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the US Government Friday, January 10, 2025, announced that the funds in forfeited assets to Nigeria was in recognition of the country’s assistance to the DOJ in an investigation into corruption in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

Photo: Jeffery Sachs

Brent S. Wible, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Head of the Justice Department鈥檚 Criminal Division, in a statement on the official Web site of the US Government said: “This agreement recognises the close law enforcement relationship between the United States and Nigeria and Nigeria鈥檚 vital assistance that contributed to the successful forfeiture of millions of Dollars of corruption proceeds.

鈥淥ur strong coordination with international partners to trace and recover assets leaves corrupt actors few places to hide their ill-gotten gains.”

Corruption proceeds for electricity projects, terrorism: Head of DOJ’s Criminal Division

Wible stated: “Today鈥檚 (Friday’s) agreement to return nearly $53 million in forfeited funds to support Nigeria and its people through electrification projects and cross-border efforts to combat terrorism demonstrates forfeiture鈥檚 power as a tool to help remediate the harms of corruption, and to invest in our global fight against terrorism.”

Commenting on the development, Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division also noted: “The FBI remains steadfast in its commitment to the global fight against corruption.

鈥淏y ensuring these forfeited funds are repatriated to Nigeria to benefit the Nigerian people through critical projects and counterterrorism efforts, the FBI reaffirms our dedication to promoting transparency and dismantling the systems that enable corruption to thrive.鈥�

Chief Guy Ficco of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) stated: “The repatriation of these funds to Nigeria to benefit the citizens of Nigeria is one of the primary goals of the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative (KARI).

鈥淚RS-CI is proud to partner with the global law enforcement community in this initiative to restore these vital resources to the projects and programmes that promote Nigeria鈥檚 continued prosperity.鈥�

The US Government further said these recovered assets were forfeited as part of an investigation by the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative of the International Unit of the Criminal Division鈥檚 Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS), a dedicated team that seeks to forfeit the proceeds of foreign official corruption and, where appropriate, repatriate those assets to the countries harmed by corruption for the benefit of their people.

According to court documents, from 2011 to 2015, Nigerian businessmen Kolawole Akanni Aluko and Olajide Omokore conspired with others to pay bribes to Nigeria鈥檚 former Minister for Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, the statement noted.

Alison-Madueke, in return, used her influence to steer lucrative oil contracts to companies owned by Aluko and Omokore. Proceeds from the scheme of over $100 million were then laundered into and through the United States and used to purchase various assets, including luxury real estate in California and New York as well as the Galactica Star, a 65-meter superyacht.

The Office of Public Affairs in DOJ as well disclosed the real estate was used as collateral for loans to Aluko and Shell Petroleum companies he controlled.

As part of the forfeiture process, those lien holders were paid, the US Government stated.

The assets were forfeited as a result of corruption, bribery, money laundering, and other illegal acts in violation of Nigerian and US law.

The US noted that the Federal Republic of Nigeria provided crucial assistance to the United States, leading to the forfeitures, including providing extensive evidentiary and investigative support.

Mr. Lateef O. Fagbemi, SAN, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, and Richard M. Mills Jr., US Ambassador to Nigeria, signed the agreement Friday, in Abuja, FCT.

Under the agreement, the US Government stated that $50 million of the recovered funds would be dedicated to an expansion of the Distributed Access Through Renewable Energy Scale-Up project, an existing electrification project funded, in part, by the International Development Association and implemented by the Nigerian Rural Electrification Agency (REA).

Programme to boost access to power, renewable energy in Nigeria

It is equally noted that the programme is intended to increase access to electricity services in Nigeria with renewable energy generation. Approximately $2.88 million of the forfeited funds will be used towards Nigeria鈥檚 contribution to the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ) and used to support capacity-building for criminal justice sector practitioners and relevant stakeholders in the region, including through activities focused on countering the financing of terrorism, development and implementation of the Counter-Terrorism Academic Curriculum of the IIJ, and institutional support for the IIJ particularly in the North, West, and East Africa regions, said the US Government.

It stated: “The agreement contains key measures designed to promote transparency and accountability.”

The statement also disclosed under the agreement, the $50 million dedicated to electrification programmes would be managed and disbursed through a World Bank trust fund, subject to World Bank oversight controls, auditing, and publication requirements.

Similarly, the IIJ counterterrorism and rule of law programmes will be subject to external auditing, periodic progress reporting, and public reporting.

These forfeiture actions were prosecuted by MLARS鈥� International Unit. The FBI and IRS-CI investigated the case. The Justice Department鈥檚 Office of International Affairs provided critical assistance, the United States Government said in the statement.

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