Buhari's bilateral agreement with UAE to return loot stashed abroad by former and current public office holders has started to pay off as billions of dollars are being prepared for delivery to the Nigerian government.
Muhammadu Buhari
All seems set for the repatriation of over $200billion stashed away by some former governors, ex-ministers and other public officers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), The Nation learnt yesterday.
Some mansions belonging to some former Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and their cronies or fronts may also be seized, a source said.
Under the searchlight for stashing away cash or acquiring properties in the UAE are seven former governors, six former ministers, a fleeing presidential aide implicated in the $2.1billion arms deals, ex-military chiefs under probe, agents / fronts of some of these public officers and five chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
A Federal Government team, comprising the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu and crack detectives from the anti-graft agency, yesterday started comparing collated intelligence notes on the PEPs with their UAE counterparts.
The EFCC officials arrived in Dubai on Saturday. The Minister left Abuja yesterday to join the team.
It was learnt that the AGF had barely returned from an official assignment when an urgent travel arrangement was made for him.
The delegation went to UAE in line with an agreement with the Federal Government.
President Muhammadu Buhari in January signed a “Judicial Agreement on Extradition, Transfer of Sentenced Persons, Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters, and Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal and Commercial Matters, which includes the recovery and repatriation of stolen wealth”.
Seven former governors, six former ministers and a fleeing Presidential aide implicated in the $2.1billion arms deals, ex-military chiefs under probe, agents/fronts of some of these public officers and about five chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) have either stashed away funds in Dubai or acquired properties.
A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The Federal Government team has met with those from the UAE on intelligence sharing, the list of those on EFCC radar, the number of highly-placed Nigerians with fat accounts in UAE and those with choice properties in Marina (Dubai), Bur Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.
”Some of the former governors include one from the South-South, two from Northcentral, two from the Northeast, one from the Northwest, and one from the Southwest.
“A former-governor had made botched attempts to transfer about $517million loot to Dominican Republic because UAE law is now strict.
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