Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has reacted to media reports of a “strongly-worded letter to the President” objecting to the payment of $16.9 million fees to two lawyers for the recovery of Abacha funds, saying they were malicious and misleading.
According to a statement, the Minister dissociated herself and the Federal Ministry of Finance from the reports on the Abacha refunds, saying at no time did she write any letter to the President or any member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the payment of lawyers for the Abacha recovery.
She also refuted the reports of controversy surrounding the Abacha recovery, disclosing that the sum of US$322,515,931.83 was received into a Special Account in the Central Bank of Nigeria on December 18, 2017 from the Swiss Government.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there is no controversy concerning the recovery of the Abacha monies from the Swiss Government,” the statement said.
