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FG Drags UK’s NCA to Court over £150m Abacha Loot
Nigerian government is locked in a court battle with Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) over control of €180 million (£150 million) that was stashed abroad by late Gen. Sani Abacha, Nigeria’s former head of State.
Late Gen. Sani Abacha
By yesterday’s official exchange rate of the British Pounds Sterling at N563, as seen on the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the money in contention is about N84.5 billion.
The United Kingdom’s The Telegraph reported that the case was again poised to spark fresh questions about dirty money flowing through the City of London.
In the latest legal tussle over the money, generally known in Nigeria as “Abacha loot”, the report stated that Nigeria wanted the crime-fighting agency, NCA, to release funds that it froze at the request of US authorities.
In May 2020, the federal government confirmed the receipt of $311 million looted by a late dictator, Abacha, repatriated from the United States and Island of Jersey.
According to Abubakar Malami, attorney general of the federation and minister of Justice, “The amount increased significantly from over $308 million to over $311 million because of the interest that accrued from February 3, 2020, to 28th April, 2020, when the fund was transferred to the CBN.”
It came after the recovery of $322 million from Switzerland in 2018.
At the time, Malami noted that the government had committed that the asset would support and assist in expediting the construction of three major infrastructure projects across Nigeria, namely, Lagos – Ibadan Expressway, Abuja – Kano Road, and Second Niger Bridge.
It was estimated that from 2007 to 2020, about $1.5 billion had been returned to Nigeria from different parts of the world.
According to the latest report, American prosecutors said the money could be traced back to a suspected $2.2 billion (£1.6 billion) or more that was plundered by Abacha and his associates during the dictator’s five-year reign.
In the complex issues surrounding the repatriation of the funds, the authorities in the US sought to return the money to “the people of Nigeria”, under the so-called Kleptocracy Initiative.
But the Nigerian government was said have sought to “sidestep” the process and obtain the funds directly through an application to the High Court, in a move opposed by UK and US authorities, documents seen by The Telegraph and SourceMaterial showed.
Although Abacha died more than 20 years ago, the piles of treasure he looted from Nigerian coffers have kept cropping up, with at least $2 billion being thought to have stolen during his five years in power.
The former dictator’s spoils have been linked to dozens of offshore bank accounts over the years, as investigators unravel the intricate web he and his associates spun across the globe.
British and American authorities have been locked in talks over tens of millions of pounds of cash that investigators say can be traced to Abacha’s plundering, the investigation found.
The case, which involves a serving Nigerian politician who was one of Abacha’s top henchmen, includes cash in British bank accounts that has been frozen by the National Crime Agency.
However, the Nigerian government has brought its own legal action against the NCA in a bid to end the tussle, it has emerged.
The report stated, “It is a complicated story with many twists and turns. But the on-going struggle for ‘Abacha’s loot’ reveals the difficulty in recovering stolen funds, the frustrations of law enforcement, and the way people accused of corruption have relied on respectable law firms to argue their cases in court.”
On the modus operandi used by Abachi to execute the looting, the report stated that after seizing power in a 1993 coup, Abacha set about using his position as Nigeria’s head of state to place himself above the law and skim vast sums of money from the oil-rich nation.
In perhaps the most brazen example, he would tell advisers to make spurious requests to him for money to deal with national “emergencies”, according to US court documents.
Signed letters would then be sent to the CBN, which would provide cash, travellers’ cheques or arrange a wire transfer.
The report added, “Money was stuffed into boxes or bags and transported to Abacha’s house, before associates arranged for it to be sent abroad.
“At least $2 billion is thought to have been stolen this way, using more than 60 letters to the central bank.
“Abacha also arranged for the government to sell bonds to a company controlled by his allies before buying them back at vastly inflated prices, generating an illicit windfall of $282 million.”
Separately, the report stated that Abacha and his associates extorted French engineering firm, Dumez Group, of $97 million and used his spoils to live a luxurious lifestyle.
“Inside his many sprawling homes, he kept piles of glittering jewellery, including gold necklaces and rings, and at one stage as much as $100 million in cash,” the report noted.
However, the money Abacha and his associates plundered became the subject of an international search after the dictator’s sudden death in 1998, aged 54.
The report stated that weeks after his death, Abacha’s widow was caught trying to flee the country with 38 suitcases packed with money and his family later forfeited nearly $1 billion.
“Yet the only clues hinting at where other stashes of money could be found were a few details of secret offshore bank accounts discovered by authorities,” it said.
“Since then, the Nigerians have sought foreign help to recover as much as possible, with more than $1 billion eventually returned from Switzerland alone,” it added.
The effort has been hampered by the sheer complexity of Abacha’s dealings as well as marathon legal battles that have dragged on for years, some involving former associates.
One of the remaining cases, brought by US prosecutors, aims to recover more than $480 million, the report stressed. In just one example of the web of transactions criss-crossing the globe, they outlined in court filings how money was laundered by Abacha and his associates through bank accounts in Lagos, London, New York, Paris, Zurich, and Geneva.
The assets were stashed in banks, including Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and Banque SBA, according to the lawsuit, although there was no suggestion that the banks were involved in any wrongdoing.
The Telegraph stated, “This legal action eventually resulted in a 2020 deal to repatriate about $321 million, which had been laundered through the US banking system and then held in accounts in Jersey under the name of Doraville Properties Corporation, a British Virgin Islands company, and Abacha’s son, Mohammed.”
Meanwhile, the new development comes as Britain fights claims that it has been very tolerant of dirty money flowing through the City of London.
US officials said last month that they were concerned that deep links between the UK and several Russian oligarchs meant that sanctions issued against Moscow if it invades Ukraine could be rendered ineffective.
Last Sunday, British Labour MP David Lammy accused ministers of doing too little to deal with corruption in Britain.
Lammy said, “We have to fix the dirty money problem we have, this huge problem of money laundering in London, of corruption and fraud.
“There’s so much that (ministers) are not doing. Joe Biden knows it and he’s concerned.”
But simultaneously, another court tussle in the UK is happening in parallel. At stake is more than €90 million, some of which came from Abacha’s security votes fraud, according to a High Court judgement issued in 2014.
The money is said to be controlled by a Singapore-based trust set up for the benefit of the family of Abubakar Bagudu, the serving governor of Kebbi State, who is accused of playing an “instrumental role” in many of Abacha’s corrupt schemes by US prosecutors.
Bagudu has always denied any wrongdoing. His office did not respond to a request for comment, the report said.
His brother, Ibrahim, is a director of two companies known as Blue Holdings that are owned by the Singapore trust.
According to the Pandora Papers, a leaked cache of documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists last year, the Bagudu brothers enlisted Farrer & Co, an elite London law firm that has advised the Queen, to help them set up these businesses.
They moved €98 million from a British Virgin Islands trust to a new structure spanning Singapore and the Cook Islands.
Farrer & Co said it carried out “extensive due diligence” on Bagudu and that it obtained approval from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the precursor to the NCA, to move the funds.
According to sources familiar with the case, the amount controlled by the Singapore trust may now have grown to as much as €180 million. It is kept in accounts at Waverton Investment Management and James Hambro & Partners, both based in London.
The NCA has been working with American authorities in a bid to confiscate the funds and return them to “the people of Nigeria,” the report stated.
However, the Nigerian government wants them to be returned directly to the country and the parties, including lawyers for Bagudu, have been holding negotiations about a possible settlement, court filings in the US show.
Bagudu struck a deal with the Nigerian government in 2003, in which he agreed to return a sum of money but made no admission of wrongdoing, and the agreement was reaffirmed by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018. What this means, according to the report, is that almost 70 per cent of the UK money could be handed to Bagudu if returned.
Court filings showed the Nigerian government subsequently sought to unlock the funds and repatriate them in legal action against the NCA – a move that was opposed by the UK and US.
The country hired Kingsley Napley, the London law firm famed for representing a host of celebrities, including Rebekah Vardy, to represent it. The firm and the NCA both declined to comment, the report noted.
The report quoted Spotlight on Corruption, a non-profit campaign group, as saying that the case raises questions about whether, “law enforcement is being paid and resourced enough to get its act together”.
It accused the NCA of having effectively “cleaned” the money by approving the transfer to Singapore and warned against returning cash to Bagudu.
However, Jonathan Benton, a former NCA senior detective who now runs consultancy Intelligent Sanctuary, said the case also underlined the sheer complexity of efforts to reclaim Abacha’s loot.
Benton stated, “I care passionately about tackling corruption and it is important we hold people to account.
“But it can be a challenging and drawn-out process and sometimes you have to be pragmatic. In those situations, the law allows you to negotiate. It is repugnant. But Nigeria desperately needs the money that Abacha stole.”
Nigeria and Israel yesterday reaffirmed their commitment to deepening bilateral cooperation in research, technology and innovation as both countries pledged to expand partnerships that will drive entrepreneurship, commercialise research and accelerate economic development.
The commitment was made at the closing ceremony and innovation showcase of the I-FAIR Cohort of the Israel-Nigeria Innovation Fellowship for Aspiring Inventors and Researchers (I-FAIR) in Abuja, where the Ambassador of Israel to Nigeria, Michael Freeman, announced that funding had been secured for the fifth edition of the programme, scheduled to begin in October 2026.
Freeman described I-FAIR as a practical demonstration of the growing partnership between both countries, saying it had enabled Nigerian innovators to develop local solutions to national challenges through Israeli mentorship and expertise.
He said, “This programme has never been about bringing Israeli solutions to Nigeria. It’s been about helping brilliant Nigerian innovators develop Nigerian solutions to Nigerian challenges supported by Israeli experience, mentorship and innovation.”
The envoy noted that the initiative had brought together government, academia, investors, engineers and entrepreneurs to transform innovative ideas into businesses capable of creating jobs and stimulating economic growth.
Announcing the continuation of the programme, he said, “I am so proud to stand here today and announce that we have secured with our partners funding for I-FAIR 5 and I-FAIR 5 will be launching in October 2026.”
Freeman said the relationship between Nigeria and Israel had grown significantly over the past four and a half years through cooperation in innovation, agriculture, healthcare, education, water management and technology.
He expressed confidence that stronger collaboration between both countries would unlock greater opportunities for startups, research institutions and businesses.
According to him, “Israel brings experience and innovation, technology, agriculture, healthcare, cyber security, security and water management. Nigeria brings extraordinary talent, creativity, entrepreneurship and one of the most dynamic young populations anywhere in the world.”
He added, “I have no doubt that the best chapters of the relationship between Israel and Nigeria are still ahead of us.”
The Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Architect Sonny Echono, also reaffirmed TETFund’s commitment to strengthening research and innovation through strategic partnerships with Israel and other stakeholders.
He said the I-FAIR programme aligned with Nigeria’s priorities in food security, agriculture, medicine, technology, clean energy and the circular economy, adding that TETFund would continue supporting initiatives that promote research commercialisation.
Echono stressed that collaboration between government, academia and industry remained critical to translating research findings into products and services.
He said, “It is this critical linkage, especially between science, engineering, technology and innovation, and the productive sector that is critical for translating R&D results and inventions into finished products for socio-economic benefits of our people.”
He disclosed that TETFund was working with partners to establish innovation facilities in about 60 tertiary institutions and had created a student innovation fund that would provide up to ₦50 million to students with commercially viable ideas.
The TETFund boss also announced plans for a National Research Fair later this year, where innovators would showcase products before policymakers, financial institutions and investors to attract funding and commercial partnerships.
Paying tribute to the outgoing Israeli ambassador, Echono described Freeman as a strong bridge between Nigeria and Israel.
He said, “Nigeria is grateful for your service. You have been a strong bridge between our two countries.”
Earlier, Head of Programmes at Innov8 Hub, Tolulope Aina, said sustainable economic development depended on building an innovation ecosystem that transforms ideas into successful businesses.
She noted that Innov8 Hub had supported more than 3,000 innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs, helping them convert research into products, startups and investment-ready ventures.
Aina said, “Nigeria does not suffer from a shortage of brilliant minds, what we need are stronger pathways that help those ideas become products, businesses, and opportunities that improve life.”
She thanked the Embassy of Israel and TETFund for their continued support in strengthening Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem.
According to her, “Building an innovation-driven economy requires collaboration, long-term commitment and shared purpose.”
Chief Judges drawn from countries across the African continent have resolved to collaborate and support measures aimed at ensuring the success of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) through an efficient, reliable and predictable dispute resolution system.
They agreed to explore ways to harmonize disputes resolution mechanisms in the continent with a view to making it easier and faster to resolve commercial disputes.
The resolutions formed part of the decisions taken at the third Africa Chief Justices’ Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Summit held in Nairobi, Kenya between June 18 and 19.
According to a statement by the Special Assistant on Media to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Mr. Tobi Soniyi, the African judicial leaders were of the view that commercial confidence depends largely on legal certainty.
They emphasised how structured Alternative Disputes Resolution could enhance commercial justice, protect the business environment and support the AfCFTA.
In her contribution, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun urged called on African judiciaries to proactively prepare for emerging challenges to disputes resolution in the continent.
Justice Kekere-Ekun, who served as Co-Chair of the session on “Financial sector disputes, tax certainty and ADR: Building commercial confidence in Africa, noted that AfCFTA represents one of the most ambitious economic integration projects in modern history.
The CJN, who stressed the importance of a proactive Judiciary to the success of AfCFTA, warned that its success would depend, not only on trade protocols, tariff reductions and economic policies, but also on the strength and reliability of the institutions that support commerce.
Justice Kekere-Ekun urged her colleagues to examine how judiciaries in the continent, central banks, tax administrations and ADR institutions could work together to reduce uncertainty, prevent disputes, strengthen investor confidence and support the realization of AfCFTA’s objectives.
She envisaged the growth of intra-African trade to inevitably generate cross-border tax disputes; foreign exchange disputes; banking and payment system disputes; digital commerce disputes; enforcement of arbitral awards; recognition of foreign judgments; and disputes arising from regional supply chains.
The CJN, who said “African Judiciaries must proactively prepare for these emerging realities,” challenged African judicial leaders on the importance of disputes prevention mechanism.
She stated that modern commercial justice must move beyond the traditional focus on disputes resolution after conflicts arise.
“The most successful commercial systems are not those that generate the highest volumes of litigation but those that reduce the need for litigation,” she added.
Justice Kekere-Ekun, who stressed the importance of ADR, cautioned against seeing ADR as merely an alternative procedure.
She said ADR should rather be considered as a strategic tool for reducing transaction costs, preserving commercial relationships, enhancing investor confidence, reducing court congestion, improving ease of doing business and strengthening commercial certainty.
Sharing the Nigerian experiences, Justice Kekere-Ekun cited the recent decision by the Nigerian Supreme Court in the case of EMTS v. AFDIN Ventures Ltd. & Ors. (2026), which reaffirmed important principles of commercial certainty, including respect for arbitration agreements; recognition that consent may be inferred from conduct; judicial restraint from re-litigating arbitral disputes on the merits; and the importance of finality in arbitral awards.
According to her, the decision reinforced Nigeria’s position as an arbitration-supportive jurisdiction.
She identified timely resolution of tax disputes as an important factor in ensuring certainty and recommended Nigerian tax disputes resolution mechanism which she said “offers useful example of institutional reforms that support commercial certainty.”
Justice Kekere-Ekun recommended the Nigeria’s Tax Appeal Tribunal model, which she described as one of Nigeria’s most significant innovations.
According to Mr. Soniyi, Justice Kekere-Ekun’s message to his brother justices is clear: building an African commercial environment in which investors, businesses, regulators and citizens can transact across borders with confidence, secure in the knowledge that their rights will be protected and their obligations fairly enforced.
The summit advanced the goals of the African Chief Justices Alternative Dispute Resolution Forum (ACJADRF) to harmonize jurisprudence and establish common enforcement standards across the continent.
The CJN was, on the last day of the summit, nominated by the Chief Justice of Kenya as the Vice Chairperson of the Africa Chief Justice ADR Forum with effect from August 1, 2026. The nomination was ratified by the forum.
Twenty-one former Almajiri learners and street children are set to graduate as certified technology technicians under the Almajiri-to-Tech Initiative, a programme designed to equip vulnerable children with digital and entrepreneurial skills while addressing youth unemployment, poverty and insecurity.
The pioneer graduation ceremony is scheduled to hold on July 29 in Abuja, where the graduates will demonstrate practical skills, including assembling computers and drones, before government officials, development partners, members of the diplomatic community and the media.
The initiative was founded by technology education advocate, Mr Tim Akano, in partnership with New Horizons Nigeria, an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training organisation.
According to the organisers, the programme seeks to provide practical solutions to the growing challenge of out-of-school children by combining technology education, entrepreneurship, mentorship and character development.
The organisers said the initiative had transformed children who previously had little or no exposure to technology into technicians capable of repairing laptops, desktop computers, mobile phones, power banks, electric fans, microwave ovens and other electronic devices.
They explained that the participants also received entrepreneurship training, mentorship, transportation support, daily meals, learning materials and professional work tools during the programme.
The organisers added that religious instructors from the participants’ respective faiths regularly visited the trainees to provide moral guidance, describing character development as a critical component of the initiative.
Unlike many vocational interventions that end with the presentation of certificates, the organisers said graduates of the programme would receive start-up support, while outstanding participants would be provided with professional work tools to establish their own businesses.
They also disclosed plans to launch a business directory and customer contact platform that would enable individuals, businesses and organisations to engage the services of the graduates.
Speaking on the initiative, Akano, who is also the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of New Horizons System Solutions Ltd., said the programme was conceived as a practical response to the challenges of youth unemployment, insecurity, poverty and irregular migration.
“You do not end migration by building higher walls. You do not defeat insecurity by relying only on military force, and you do not end poverty by preaching patriotism.
“You solve these challenges by building hope where hopelessness exists, equipping young people with practical skills, and creating opportunities where they live,” he said.
According to him, the pilot programme has demonstrated that children who have experienced neglect and exclusion can become innovators, entrepreneurs and contributors to national development when provided with quality education and opportunities.
He said one of the trainees, Mohammed, who arrived from the Niger Republic without speaking English, had acquired sufficient language proficiency within months to communicate confidently with customers while carrying out computer and electronics repairs.
Another participant, Fatima, discovered her interest in poetry during the programme and produced a poem celebrating New Horizons Nigeria, reflecting the broader personal development fostered by the initiative.
The organisers said the programme was inspired by concerns over the growing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, estimated at about 30 million, and the broader global challenge of millions of children without access to education.
They argued that investing in digital skills, entrepreneurship and mentorship for vulnerable children offers a sustainable approach to addressing poverty, insecurity, youth unemployment and violent extremism.
As part of efforts to sustain the programme, the foundation said it had established a fully equipped workshop known as “The Almajiri Republic Workshop” in Wuse II, Abuja.
The workshop, according to the organisers, will serve as a commercial repair centre where graduates can provide computer and electronics repair services while continuing to strengthen their technical expertise.
The foundation called on the Presidency, federal and state governments, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), members of the National Assembly, development partners, donor agencies, corporate organisations, civil society groups, religious institutions and other stakeholders to support the expansion of the initiative across Nigeria.
It maintained that scaling up the programme could transform millions of vulnerable children into skilled professionals capable of contributing to economic growth while reducing poverty, unemployment and insecurity.
The organisers said local and international media organisations, including CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera and ARISE News, had been invited to witness the graduation ceremony and the practical demonstrations by the pioneer graduates.
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