World Bank Set To Approve $1.5 Billion Loan To Nigeria

 

The World Bank is set to approve a new loan totalling $1.5billion to the federal government.

The financial institution's project list indicated that the loan will be approved on September 26.

The $1.5 billion will be distributed through three major development projects aimed at improving Nigeria’s economic stability and resource mobilisation capacity. The projects, targeting crucial sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, and infrastructure, are pivotal for the country’s sustainable development and economic stability.

A breakdown of the projects showed the World Bank will approve $500 million for the first project tagged ‘Nigeria: Primary Healthcare Provision Strengthening Programme’.

The World Bank did not disclose the cost of the first project.

Another $500 million will be approved for the ‘Nigeria Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity (HOPE) – Governance’ project, which has a project cost of $700 million.

The third project, ‘Sustainable Power and Irrigation for Nigeria,’ will also receive $500 million, but has a project cost of $10.75 billion.

One of the loan requests – ‘Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project – Scale Up,’ will receive $500 million by December 16. The other on ‘Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project,’ slated for an approval date of April 8, 2025, will receive N300 million.

In May, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) said the federal government has secured a $500 million loan from the World Bank to boost electricity distribution in the country.

The federal government had received $750 million from the World Bank for humanitarian and social reforms and $1.5 billion for its economic stabilisation plan.

Also, on June 3, Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, said the World Bank board of directors would consider a loan of $2.25 billion for Nigeria.

U.S. Repatriates Another $20.6 million Abacha Loot To Nigeria

 

The Department of Justice announced today that it has transferred over $20.6 million to the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Nigeria) in accordance with an Aug. 23 agreement between the governments to repatriate assets the United States forfeited that were traceable to the kleptocracy of former Nigerian Dictator General Sani Abacha and his co-conspirators.

 

This repatriation brings the total amount forfeited and returned by the United States in this case to approximately $332.4 million.

In 2014, a judgment was entered in the District of Columbia ordering the forfeiture of approximately $500 million located in accounts around the world, as the result of a civil forfeiture complaint for more than $625 million traceable to money laundering involving the proceeds of General Abacha’s corruption. In 2020, the department repatriated over $311.7 million of the forfeited assets that had been located in the Bailiwick of Jersey. Last year, the U.K. government enforced the U.S. judgment against the additional over $20.6 million.

The forfeited assets represent corrupt monies laundered during and after the military regime of General Abacha, who became Head of State of Nigeria through a military coup on Nov. 17, 1993, and held that position until his death on June 8, 1998. The complaint filed in this case alleges that General Abacha, his son Mohammed Sani Abacha, their associate Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, and others embezzled, misappropriated, and extorted billions of dollars from the government of Nigeria and others, then laundered their criminal proceeds through U.S. financial institutions and transactions in the United States. The United Kingdom’s cooperation in the investigation, restraint, and enforcement of the U.S. judgement, along with the valuable contributions of Nigeria and other law enforcement partners around the world, including the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, as well as those of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, have been instrumental to the recovery of these funds.

Under the agreement signed in August, the United States agreed to transfer 100% of the net forfeited assets to Nigeria to support three critical infrastructure projects in Nigeria that were previously authorized by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian legislature. The $20,637,622.27 marks a slight reduction from the $23 million announced in August due primarily to exchange rate fluctuations between British pounds sterling and U.S. dollars. The funds governed by this agreement will help finance the Second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, and the Abuja-Kano road – investments that will benefit the citizens of each of these important regions in Nigeria.

The agreement includes key measures to ensure transparency and accountability, including administration of the funds and projects by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), financial review by an independent auditor, and monitoring by an independent civil society organization with expertise in engineering and other areas. The agreement also precludes the expenditure of funds to benefit alleged perpetrators of the corruption or to pay contingency fees for lawyers. The agreement reflects the sound principles for ensuring transparency and accountability adopted at the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) in December 2017 in Washington, D.C., which the United States and United Kingdom hosted with support from the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative of the World Bank and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

The department appreciates the extensive assistance provided by the governments of the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Jersey, and France in this investigation.

This case was brought under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative by a team of dedicated prosecutors in the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section working in partnership with the FBI. Through the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, the Department of Justice and federal law enforcement agencies seek to safeguard the U.S. financial system from criminal money laundering and to recover the proceeds of foreign official corruption. Where appropriate and possible, the department endeavors to use recovered corruption proceeds to benefit the people harmed by acts of corruption and abuse of public trust.

 

Lagos Court Jails 20 Ghanaians For Trafficking Marijuana To Nigeria

 

A Federal high Court in Lagos State on Thursday sentenced 20 Ghanaian fishermen to one-year imprisonment each for transporting 13.670 kilogrammes of marijuana, aka cannabis sativa, from Ghana to Nigeria.

Justice Nicholas Oweibo convicted and sentenced them after finding them guilty of the charges of conspiracy and unlawful transportation of the drug.

The convicted fishermen include Francis Teye, Kweke Komel, Gad Adjah, Theophilus Tetteh, Kwesi Aboagye, Ekon Fynn, Kwamena Baah,  Kwabina Adjei, Micheal Okutu, Isaac Kofi, Kweku Moko, Kwezi Adzi and Kweku Mensah.

Others are Micheal Kofi, Ekon Bentum, Kwesi Amissah, Joshua Huago, Otu Otipeseku, Isaac Yorsson and Nana Kodwo.

The convicts were arrested with the drug conveyed from their country into the Nigerian territorial waters on January 14, 2022.

They were arraigned on two counts of conspiracy and unlawful transportation of the substance.

The prosecutor, Mr Fingere Owen, told the court that the offences were contrary to and punishable under sections 11(b) and 14(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

The defendants pleaded guilty to the charges.

Following their guilty pleas, the prosecutor reviewed the facts of the case.

Owen also tendered some exhibits and urged the court to convict and sentence them in accordance with the sections they were charged with.

However, lawyers to the convicts, Mr Uche Okoronkwo, who led Calistus Onyewueke, both of Minerva Legal Practice, told the court that all the defendants were first time offenders without previous criminal records.

Okoronkwo told the court that his clients were fishermen, who were engaged by a purported customer, who did not tell them the content of the bag.

Justice Oweibo sentenced them to one-year imprisonment each.

The judge also ordered that the sentence should commence from the date of their arrest.

He, however, ordered the convicts to pay the sum of N50,000 each in lieu of the sentence and ordered that the boat used in smuggling the banned substance be forfeited to the Federal Government.

 

I Was Framed By NDLEA Personnel Assisting Drug Barons To Ship Cocaine To Nigeria, I Am Innocent – Abba Kyari Says

 

Embattled “super cop” DCP Abba Kyari has accused the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency of assisting drug traffickers.

Kyari added that a corrupt NDLEA officer framed him after he went to demand compensation for a whistle-blower who provided information that led to the arrest of a suspect by the IRT.

He made the claim in a N500million fundamental right enforcement suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/182/22.

Kyari, who is currently in custody of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, is facing trial over his alleged involvement in drug trafficking.

He had before his arraignment on March 7, instituted the legal action to challenge his arrest and detention by the agency.

Kyari is among other things, praying the court to order the Nigerian government to pay him N500m and also tender written apology to him in two national dailies for the unlawful violation of his fundamental human rights.

He is further praying the court for, “a declaration that arrest and continued detention of the Applicant by the Agent of the Respondent without bringing him before a court of competent jurisdiction from 12th of February 2022 till date, is Illegal, unlawful and a gross violation of Applicant’s fundamental right to personal liberty and freedom of movement guaranteed by Section 35(1) of the I999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and Article 6 of the African Charter on human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act.

“A declaration that announcing the Applicant in the Press without giving him right to fair hearing nor establishing a prima-facie case against him is illegal, unlawful and an infringement on his fundamental right.

“A declaration that declaring the Applicant syndicate of the suspect without establishing a prima-facie case against the Applicant is unlawful and an infringement on his fundamental right.”

“A declaration that torture, degrading and in human treatment given to the Applicant by the Agent of the Respondent is illegal, unlawful and an infringement on the Applicant’s fundamental human right.

“A declaration that refusal to grant administrative bail to Applicant on alleged bailable offence is unlawful and infringement on the Applicant’s fundamental human right.”

As well as, “an order of this Honourable Court restraining the Respondent’s agents, servants proxies, police or anyone acting on their behalf from further harassing, detaining, intimidating, arresting the Applicant unlawfully.”

An affidavit filed by Kyari also read, “That on that fateful day, the suspect as usual shipped drugs (cocaine) from Ethiopia to Enugu Airport. The officer of NDLEA cleared him within the airport, then officer of FIB-IRT arrested the suspect with the help of an information.

“That before the informant accepted to work with the officers of FIB-IRT, they both had an agreement to compensate the informant.

“That officers of FIB-IRT, having noticed that officers of NDLEA were the ones clearing the said suspect with his drugs (cocaine), they immediately took the suspect to NDLEA and also reported those officers involved in the act.

“That instead of the NDLEA to handle the matter accordingly and bring their officers involved to book, they decided to frustrate the informant, thereby refusing to compensate the informant.

“That it was at this juncture that the attention of the DCP Abba Kyari was called, who because the NDLEA officer involved is his friend, decided to intervene for the purpose of compensating the Informant.

“That the NDLEA officer who refused to compensate the informant was the one who framed DCP Abba Kyari up on a trump-up allegation that he was trying to bribe him.

“That the agent of the Respondent declared the Applicant wanted because of a mere allegation that he was trying to bribe an NDLEA officer without sufficient proof.

“That the Nigerian Police Force, based on the allegation of the Respondent arrested the Applicant on February 12, 2022, and handed over to the NDLEA.”