Ibori Loot: Delta Governor Gives Buhari Two Options

The Delta State Government has asked the Federal Government to return the £4.2 million looted by the state's former governor, James Ibori, being repatriated to Nigeria by the United Kingdom to the state.

The state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, believed that since the money was stolen from the state, it would only be just to return the funds to the state coffer.

Okowa who appeared on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Wednesday evening said that, “I have spoken with the attorney-general of the federation. My attorney-general went to have a meeting with him. I think that we are working and we are likely to come on the same page. We have written a formal letter of protest to Mr. President.”

The state is protesting the decision of the Federal Government to spend the funds on federal projects.

Nigeria and the United Kingdom government signed a memorandum of understanding on March 9 for the repatriation of the funds stolen by the former Delta State Governor, Ibori.

READ ALSO: Delta State Should Get Ibori Loot Once Returned – Falana

But controversy sprouted shortly after the MoU was signed, when the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, stated that the money will be spent by the Federal Government.

The projects the money will be spent on, according to Malami, were construction of the second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

However, Okowa expected the Federal Government to follow a similar route as the UK Government by returning the money to the source it was stolen from.

“In the same manner of the relationship created between the UK and Nigeria, we also expect that the Nigerian Government will do the same thing by being magnanimous to return the money back to the source, which is Delta State,” he said.

To guarantee that the Deltans benefitted from the repatriated money, Okowa said his government has provided the Federal Government options and made a compelling case for the state.

“We have made two suggestions; return the money directly to us or apply it directly to projects that we feel are of importance and are in Delta State so that Deltans can directly benefit from the repatriated funds and I don’t think anybody can fault that line (of thinking)”, he said.