The Presidency has dismissed media reports that the Federal Government will surrender $100 million from the recovered $308 million Abacha loot to Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State.
A presidential source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the report as false, untrue and disinformation.
The source, however, confirmed that the Buhari administration inherited litigation in which the defunct Obasanjo administration ceded $100 million to Bagudu, an agreement also being challenged by the U.S. government.
He said: ”It is important that the fog of misinformation and disinformation on the position of the Buhari administration on the ongoing recovery from the United States of the Abacha loot be cleared.
”The administration is currently talking to the U.S. government on the return of three pots or tranches of Abacha loot.
”First is the $308 million which has already been agreed to.
”Yes, there is a $100 million yet to be resolved, which the Obasanjo administration ceded to Senator Abubakar Bagudu, an agreement that is being litigated because the U.S. government itself does not recognise that Obasanjo-Bagudu settlement.
”Then, there is a third tranche of $60 million which is also a subject of private litigation by the Abacha family.”
The source, therefore, maintained that, ”claims that the Buhari administration is planning to pay $100 millon to Bagudu from the $308 million on the home stretch are absolutely untrue.
”That money, being paid to the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority is going into the funding of ongoing work on Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the Second Niger Bridge and the Abuja-Kano expressway.”
