Abacha Funds: Adeosun Denies Reports On Payment To Lawyers

Minister of Finance Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has dissociated herself and the Federal Ministry of Finance from a media report alleging that she wrote 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.

A statement signed by her Special Adviser, Media and Communications Oluyinka Akintunde, said: “The minister had at no time written any letter to the President or any member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the payment of lawyers for the Abacha recovery.”

She refuted the media report of controversy surrounding the Abacha recovery, disclosing that 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.

The statement noted that “for the avoidance of doubt, there is no controversy concerning the recovery of the Abacha monies from the Swiss Government”.