ABUJA, March 9 (Reuters) - Britain has agreed to send to
Nigeria 4.2 million pounds ($5.84 million) recovered from a
former state governor who was jailed for laundering money in
Britain, the two countries said on Tuesday.
James Ibori, who was governor of southern oil-producing
Delta State from 1999 to 2007, pleaded guilty at London's
Southwark Crown Court in 2012 to 10 counts of fraud and
money-laundering. He received a 13-year sentence.
The 4.2 million pounds was stolen by Ibori and his
associates but retrieved through operations led by British law
enforcement agencies, who identified assets bought in Britain
with illicit funds, the Foreign Office said in a statement.
Nigeria's attorney general, Abubakar Malami, said the funds
would be used to help complete a number of infrastructure
projects, including a road connecting the capital Abuja and
northern commercial hub Kano.
"I am confident that both the Nigerian and British
governments remain committed to all affirmative actions to
combat corruption... (and) illicit financial flows," Malami said
at a ceremony at which officials from the two countries signed
an agreement on the return of the funds.
The agreement builds on a 2016 memorandum of understanding
that provides a framework for the return of stolen assets to
Nigeria.