The House of Representatives in a unanimous adoption of a motion by Minority Leader Ndudi Elumelu (PDP-Delta), during Wednesday’s plenary, has urged the Federal Government to halt the appropriation of £4.2 million recovered from former Gov. James Ibori of Delta.
The Rep member insisted that the money belonged to the people of Delta and should be refunded to the coffers of the state government for developmental purposes, as other assets seized by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, from Bayelsa and Abia states, were returned to those states.
Hon. Elumelu lamented that the £4.2 million, being proceeds of looted funds recovered from Ibori was being transferred to the coffers of the federal government for appropriation without recourse to the Delta government.
“If the federal government is allowed to appropriate the fund without recourse to the Delta Government, the people of the state will be short-changed.
“They will be deprived of their legitimate resources to improve on the economy of the state as well as provide the requisite infrastructure for their benefit,” NAN quoted Elumelu.
The house, however, mandated its Committees on Finance, Justice and Recovered Funds to investigate the matter.
The lower chambers urged the Ministry of Finance to stop the disbursement, pending the final determination of the matter by the House.
The House also requested the Ministry of Finance and Attorney General of Federation to furnish it with all particulars relating to the money.
Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase also mandated the committees to conclude investigations and report to the House within two weeks
It would be recalled that Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said that President Muhammadu Buhari directed that the returned loots be deployed for the completion of the second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the Abuja to Kano expressway.
Malami said this shortly after the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mrs. Catriona Laing expressed the country’s readiness to return looted assets worth £4.2 million to Nigeria.
