Posted by Samuel on Wed 10th Mar, 2021 - tori.ng
The petitioner, Lucky Ighoyota, explained that since the funds were laundered to the United Kingdom, and now recovered, they should return to the state’s coffers, and not to the Federal Government.
James Ibori
Some Nigerians have demanded that the £4.2 million James Ibori loot be returned to Delta State.
The Nigerians, on Wednesday started signing a petition asking the Nigerian government to return the sum of £4.2 million of stolen assets by the former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, to the Delta State’s treasury.
The petition on Change.org noted that the funds originated from Delta State and were supposed to be used to provide healthcare, quality education and social amenities to the people of the state.
The petitioner, Lucky Ighoyota, explained that since the funds were laundered to the United Kingdom, and now recovered, they should return to the state’s coffers, and not to the Federal Government.
On Tuesday, the UK had signed a Memorandum of Understanding to return the sum of £4.2 million of stolen assets by Ibori.
The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, had stated this in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
She said the money was recovered from friends and family members of the former governor.
She condemned how many Nigerians were in the habit of siphoning money from the country to the UK, saying that had also affected the level of trust between the two countries.
In the petition on Change.org, Nigerians demanded the repatriation of funds to Delta State.
The petition reads, “The unending corruption in Nigeria is so alarming across the 36 states of the federation. And as such government officials across board are on a stealing spree. They do this by engaging in money laundering, direct pilfering of state's resources, contract scams, and many other thieving techniques.
“After former governor Ibori pleaded guilty to laundering monies belonging to Delta State to UK, the UK agreed to return the sum of £4.2 million to the Federal Government of Nigeria without giving consideration to the state whose funds were stolen.
“On the other hand, the Federal Government has allocated these funds to projects, none of which is situated in Delta State. It must be noted that these funds originated from Delta state and were supposed to be used to provide healthcare, quality education and social amenities to the people of Delta, before being laundered to the UK.
“Hence, the need for this petition is to draw the attention/support of the UK government to see through the repatriation of these stolen monies back to the impoverished people of Delta State in the form of projects that can help its teeming populace.
“Also, to appeal to the UK government to assist in compelling the Nigerian government authorities to take into cognisance Delta State in project execution from proceeds from returned funds from the UK that were stolen from Delta State.”