The British Government has paid the sum of £4,214,017.66 being the proceeds of part of the loot by former Delta State Governor James Onanefe Ibori.

A statement released by Umar Gwandu, spokesperson of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said that as at May 10, the naira equivalent of the looted funds has been paid into an account designated for that purpose by the Federal Government.

“Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN signed Memorandum of Understanding for the repatriation of the Ibori loot on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The development, according to Malami, was a demonstration of the recognition of reputation Nigeria earns through records of management of recovered stolen Nigerian stolen in the execution of public oriented projects.”the statement in part read

Ibori governed Delta State, an oil rich state from 1999 to 2007. On February 27th, 2012, Ibori pleaded guilty to ten counts of money laundering, fraud, conspiracy to defraud, and other offenses in a London court. He also pleaded guilty to stealing over $250 million public funds while he was governor. 

The ex Governor of Delta state was released from a UK prison in December 2016 after finishing his jail term.