‘Returned $311m Abacha loot for three priority projects only’

The recently repatriated $311 million Sani Abacha loot is to be used in funding three of the Federal Government’s five priority projects, excluding the Mambilla power and East-West road projects.

“In an earlier statement, I had mistakenly noted that the Mambilla was one of the five priority projects to benefit from the $311 million Abacha loot under the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) managed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA). The error is regretted,” presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said in a statement yesterday.

He added: “Although the Mambilla and East-West expressway are regarded under the PIDF as priority projects, I have ascertained that they are exempted from the agreement signed between the Nigerian, United States and British territory of Jersey governments.”

According to the release, only the second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano and the Lagos-Ibadan highways that would benefit from the largesse.