Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has disowned media reports claiming she has refused to pay lawyers that have helped in the recovery of the loot of former military dictator, Sani Abacha stashed abroad.
Below is the statement released by her office:
The attention of the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has been drawn to false media reports of a “strongly-worded letter to the President” objecting to the payment of $16.9 million fees to two lawyers for the recovery of Abacha funds.
2. The Minister wishes to dissociate herself and the Federal Ministry of Finance from recent malicious and misleading media reports on the Abacha refunds. The Minister had at no time written any letter to the President or any member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the payment of lawyers for the Abacha recovery.
3. She also refuted the flawed media reports of controversy surrounding the Abacha recovery, disclosing that the sum of US$322,515,931.83 was received into a Special Account in the Central Bank of Nigeria on December 18, 2017 from the Swiss Government.
4. For the avoidance of doubt, there is no controversy concerning the recovery of the Abacha monies from the Swiss Government.
