By Mark Longyen

The United Kingdom has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate the return of more than 9.5 million dollars in looted funds to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

A statement by the British High Commission on Friday in Abuja said the UK’s Attorney General for Jersey, Mark Temple, signed the agreement with the Nigerian government in December 2025.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Channel Island of Jersey is a self-governing dependency of the British Crown located in the English Channel, near France.

It explained that the MoU was built on two previous agreements between Jersey and Nigeria, under which more than 300 million dollars in recovered assets had already been repatriated to Nigeria.

It will be recalled that the UK government, working with its Crown Dependencies, has, over the years, committed to assisting Nigeria in tracing, confiscating, and returning proceeds of corruption stashed abroad.

It noted that under earlier agreements, the UK facilitated the return of recovered funds linked to former Nigerian officials, with the monies transparently deployed to critical infrastructure projects under international monitoring arrangements.

According to the statement, the repatriated funds were applied to projects such as the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge, in line with agreed frameworks to ensure accountability and proper utilisation.

Under the terms of the latest MoU, the recovered funds are to support the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Second Niger Bridge, and the Abuja-Kano Road projects.

It added that with the first two projects already completed, the forfeited funds would be channelled toward the completion of the 375-kilometre Abuja-Kano Highway linking Nigeria’s capital with its second-largest city.

The statement explained that on Nov. 29, 2023, the Attorney General applied to the Royal Court of Jersey under the Forfeiture of Assets (Civil Proceedings) (Jersey) Law 2018 in respect of tainted property held in a Jersey bank account.

It said that on Jan. 12, 2024, the court granted a forfeiture order after determining that the funds were suspicious proceeds of corruption in which third-party contractors diverted government monies for senior Nigerian officials.

“This successful return demonstrates the strength of our civil forfeiture legislation as a powerful tool in the fight against corruption.

“I thank the Nigerian authorities for their cooperation and the Economic Crime and Confiscation Unit in my Department for their unwavering commitment to recovering the proceeds of crime,” Temple was quoted as saying.

The statement also quoted Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, as saying that the recovery underscored the effectiveness of Nigeria’s collaboration with international partners.

“The successful recovery and repatriation of the forfeited assets underscore the effectiveness of Nigeria’s collaborative efforts with its international partners in ensuring that there is no safe haven for illicitly acquired wealth moved to foreign jurisdictions.

“On behalf of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I thank the Bailiwick of Jersey for the cooperation extended to Nigeria during the recovery exercise.

“I further assure the Bailiwick of Jersey that the repatriated assets will be judiciously utilised in line with the terms of the executed Memorandum of Understanding,” Fagbemi said. (NAN)

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