The effort to transfer nearly $110 million of funds stolen by late dictator Sani Abacha from the U.S. to Kebbi State Governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, faces resistance from both the United Kingdom and the United States. The UK, US and Nigerian governments are in dispute over investment portfolios worth 141 million euros traced to Abacha and held in trust for Bagudu and his family.
According to a motion filed by Bagudu’s brother, Ibrahim, to the District Court for the District of Columbia in the U.S. capital, the UK government’s National Crime Agency is opposing the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s application. The U.S. Department of Justice has accused Bagudu of being part of a network controlled by Abacha that “embezzled, misappropriated and extorted billions from the government of Nigeria.”
The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari says it’s prevented from assisting the U.S.’s ongoing forfeiture efforts by an agreement between Bagudu and a previous government in 2003. This 2003 settlement, approved by a U.K. court, allowed Bagudu to return $163 million to Nigeria “without admitting to wrongdoing,” according to U.S. court filings. In return, the government dropped all outstanding civil and criminal claims against him.
Bagudu, who was elected a senator in 2009 and the governor of Kebbi State six years later, entered into a new accord with Buhari’s administration in October 2018 to transfer ownership of the investment portfolios to the Nigerian state, which would immediately pay 98.5 million euros to the Kebbi governor and his affiliates. However, the terms of the updated settlement cannot be implemented while Nigeria’s application in a U.K. court is pending and a freezing order is still in place.
Ibrahim Bagudu, who is entitled to a $100,000 annuity from the funds and is contesting the U.S. confiscation efforts, has indicated that preliminary discussions regarding a potential negotiated resolution to this matter have been commenced between him and the U.S. government.