Twenty-four hours after he said the loot of ex-Governor James Ibori has been returned to Delta State, Ahmed Idris, the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), has recanted.
When he appeared before the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating the status of all recovered loots, movable and immovable assets from 2002 to 2020, on Tuesday, Idris said the money had been returned to Delta.
But in a statement on Wednesday, Henshaw Ogubike, Director (Information, Press and Public Relations), Office of the AGF, claimed Idris only suggested that stolen funds will be returned to states where they were illegally taken from.
He added that the money is not yet in the Federal Government coffers, contradicting Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), who had earlier said Nigeria had received the money.
Umar Gwandu had claimed that the “naira equivalent value” of the total £4,214,017.66 was credited into the designated Federal Government account” since May 10.
But the statement from the Accountant-General’s office said the money is being awaited.
The statement read: “The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) wishes to put the records straight regarding the widely circulated media report on the £4.2m Ibori Loot.”
“The issue of the £4.2m Ibori Loot has not been properly resolved. The money is still being awaited, after which the issues around it will be resolved before further action is taken. For now, no money has been returned to Delta State” “This explanation is without prejudice to the proceedings at the public hearing that took place yesterday during which the AGF was only making general comments about recoveries relating to State Governments. This is the true position as regards the £4.2m Ibori Loot,” the statement read.