Give us Ibori loot or invest it in Delta, Okowa tells FG

Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has said his administration is working towards recovering the £4.2million seized from a former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, which was repatriated to the federal government recently.

Governor Okowa said the Delta State Government has formally written to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the federation, Abubakar Malami, to return the funds to the state either in cash or committed into projects prescribed by the state government.

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The federal government finally received the money from the United Kingdom on Tuesday, according to Malami.

However, he said the repatriated funds would be deployed into federal projects.

But Senator Okowa insisted Wednesday in Asaba, during the 2021 Quarterly Media Interaction, that the state government is committed to recovering the fund.

“We have written series of letters to President Muhammadu Buhari and Attorney General of the Federation over the matter.

“The state plans to use the money to finance some ongoing developmental projects, embark on new projects in the three senatorial districts that will be beneficial to the entire residents, create employment whereby youths and others would be proud of such opportunities,” the governor stressed.

On whether the federal government would release the money to Delta State or not, the Governor said the state had suggested some projects in the state to the federal government which it could use the money to finance.

It would be recalled that Malami signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, for the repatriation of the Ibori loot on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The development, according to Malami, was a demonstration of the recognition of reputation Nigeria earns through records of management of recovered stolen money.