FEDERAL Government has retracted its position that the $311 million recovered from Abacha loots will fund three of federal government priority projects and not five as earlier stated by the government.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), Garba Shehu made the statement on Wednesday stating that he takes responsibility for the discrepancy in the report which erroneously included Mambilla Power and East-West road projects in the Abacha loot project deal.
He explained that based on the agreement signed between Nigeria, United States of America and British territory of Jersey governments, the loot would strictly apply on three priority projects as agreed and nothing more.
According to the Memorandum-of-Understanding, only the second Niger-Bridge, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano expressway, and Lagos-Ibadan expressway will benefit from the repatriated funds domiciled in the NSIA.
“In an earlier statement, I had mistakenly noted that the Mambilla was one of five priority projects to benefit from the $311 million Abacha loot under the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) managed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA). That error is regretted.
“Although the Mambilla and East-West expressway are regarded under the PIDF as priority projects, I have ascertained that they are exempt from the agreement signed between the Nigerian, United States and British territory of Jersey governments”, Shehu stated.