The Delta state government says it will challenge the federal government’s plan to use the 4.2 million pounds (about 2.2 billion naira) recently recovered from former governor James Ibori to complete roads in other parts of the country and the second Niger bridge when federal roads in the state are either dilapidated or not completed.
The Commissioner for Information, Delta State, Ehiedu Aniagwu revealed this Tuesday when reacting to the news of the repatriation of the funds, which according to the Federation Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), would be used to complete the work in progress at ‘second Niger bridge, Abuja-Kano road and Lagos-Ibadan road’.
“We would try to take advantage of the legal system for the federal government to correct the injustice that they are about to commit to us as a state,” he said.
“If you are fairly certain that the funds you are about to repatriate left the Delta state because of those who have ruled the state in the past, on what basis would you now take the money elsewhere? Under what law?
He said the federal government can only take a percentage of the cost of recovery and distribute the funds on federal highways in the state.
Meanwhile, a civil society organization involved in asset recovery, the African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), has recommended that the UK openly disclose the total amount recovered from Ibori, and that governments should review the recently signed annex to the 2016 MoU on the assets of £ 4.2 million for return to Delta State.
The executive director of ANEEJ and head of the Transparency and Accountability in the Management of Returned Assets (MANTRA) project, Rev David Ugolor in a statement wondered why the assets returned from Delta State people will be used to finance federal infrastructure projects.