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Former Nigerian President General Sani Abacha is believed to have stolen over $4 billion during his time in office.
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A
Nigerian economic and social rights group has written to the White
House demanding the return of $500 million of stolen funds, which it
claims are being held by the US.
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General Sani Abacha seized power in a 1993 coup and reigned for five years.
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"(We
urge) the administration to attach and release to Nigeria some $500
million worth of US-based proceeds of corruption traced to former
Nigerian dictator General Sani Abacha," the Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project (SERAP) wrote in an open letter.
The
letter cites US obligations as a signatory to the UN Convention Against
Corruption, and demands that the government "promptly initiate civil
asset forfeiture proceedings" to ensure that the funds are swiftly
returned to Nigeria.
Following the money
General Sani Abacha was a notorious
dictator who led Nigeria for five years after taking power in a 1993
coup. He is alleged to have stolen over $4 billion during his reign, before his death in 1998.
SERAP's
claim is the latest in a series of attempts to recover lost wealth from
Abacha and his family, which has been frozen in accounts and assets
around the world.
Switzerland has recovered and returned around $700 million to Nigeria to date, with further sums pending. The US Department of Justice had already seized $480 million in 2014, prior to SERAP's new claim, although this has yet to be returned.
The Nigerian government's focus is on
reclaiming the funds it is due from these latter cases rather than the
SERAP claim, says Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, Executive Secretary of the
Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption.
Extracting the money from the US in particular has been a frustrating process for Nigeria. "President
Obama met with our President Buhari and made a commitment to return
this sum to the government of Nigeria," says Owasanoye.
"This has been
subject to legal challenge, and the bureaucratic system in the US is
hindering the return so far."
"Developed countries are very happy to recover money but very slow to return it," he adds. The legal challenge comes from Godson Nnaka, a former attorney for the Nigerian government.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) says that the appeal must be resolved before the funds can be returned to Nigeria.