•As US Congressmen visit president
President Muhammadu Buhari says his government has taken efforts to recover looted Nigerian funds a step further by identifying banks, financial institutions and countries in which payments for stolen Nigerian crude oil have been deposited.
The president said this at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday while speaking in an audience with visiting United States Congressmen led by Rep. Darrel Issa.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, quoted Buhari as saying that
some of the looted funds were paid to individual accounts.
Adesina said the president also disclosed that his government was identifying the financial institutions and countries that were involved.
He said Buhari acknowledged the support and cooperation his administration was getting from the international community in gathering required intelligence for tracing and recovering stolen national resources.
“We are getting cooperation from the international community, including information on ships that take crude oil from Nigeria and change direction, or pour their contents into other ships mid-stream.
“Some monies were paid to individual accounts. We are identifying the financial institutions and countries that are involved.
“I have been assured that when we get all our documents together, the United States and other countries will treat our case with sympathy", the president was quoted to have stated.
President Buhari, according to Adesina, also told the Congressmen that his administration would welcome more regular meetings of the Nigeria-United States Bi-National Commission.
He said the president noted that the Commission could serve as a more useful platform for the promotion of bilateral trade and economic relations as well as joint cooperation in the war against terrorism.
The presidential spokesman quoted Darrel as assuring Buhari that the United States would support Nigeria against Boko Haram by providing training, intelligence and military platforms.
“We look forward to helping you in many ways to end the Boko Haram insurgency and the theft of crude oil in the Gulf of Guinea, Darrel was quoted to have said.
Comments