Delta State government has frowned at the Federal Government plan to spend the £4.2m (N2.2bn) recovered from relatives of the state former governor, James Ibori, on projects outside the state.
The fund is set to be repatriated from the United Kingdom.
Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) has revealed that the expected money would be used on ongoing projects such as the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the 2nd Niger Bridge and the Abuja-Kano rail.
The AGF made this known while signing the Memorandum of Understanding between Nigeria and the government of the UK on the return of the money.
His words: “In consonance with existing framework or model engaged in the management of previous recoveries, the Federal Executive Council under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that the instant repatriated funds should be deployed towards the completion of the following legacy projects: the Second Niger Bridge, Abuja – Kano expressway and the Lagos – Ibadan expressway under the coordination of the Nigeria Social Investment Authority.”
Reacting to this, the Commissioner for Information in Delta State, Charles Aniagwu said the plans by the Federal Government to spend the money without considering Delta State government was not good enough.
“Why should Delta State money be used in building Lagos-Ibadan Expressway or Abuja-Kano rail? Is the Federal Government saying it doesn’t know the origin of the money,” Aniagwu asked?
Asked if Delta State government would challenge the issue he said, “I am not in a position to say right now. However, that money belongs to Delta State. We would have understood if the Federal Government had said it wanted to receive 20 per cent but to take all the money is wrong.”
Ibori, who ruled Delta State from 1999 to 2007, was convicted by a UK court in 2012 and was sentenced to 13 years in jail after admitting fraud of nearly £50m (N26.3bn).