The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to use the loot to fund projects in Delta State.
Sagay said this during an interview with Punch on Wednesday.
The PACAC chairman said using the latest £4.2m (N2.2bn) tranche of the Ibori loot to fund the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Abuja-Kano railway, would be unjust since such projects would have no direct impact on the lives of the people of Delta.
The 80-year-old senior advocate argued that since the funds emanated from the Delta State treasury, it would only be proper for the money to be used for the development of the state.
He said, “The money came from Delta State. Naturally, it must go back to Delta State. I know the basis of the Federal Government argument. It is not just about the MoU. There is a provision in the EFCC Act which says all monies recovered should go to the Federal Government.
“I think they may want to rely on this. However, that law is void because a law cannot be based on transferring the assets belonging to one person to another. My advice is for the Federal Government to ask the Delta State government to nominate projects they want to undertake and then money would be released for the projects.
“The Ibori money being used for Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and others is unacceptable. You cannot use money from Delta State to fix projects in other places. The Federal Government can also use the money to fund its many projects in Delta State like the Benin-Warri road and many others.”
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has asked the Federal Government not to spend the £4.2m (N2.2bn) seized from former Governor James Ibori until the lawmakers conclude an investigation of the repatriation process.
This is just as members of the House from Delta State, where Ibori was governor, insisted that the money should be taken back to the state, while alleging that the actual amount was £6.2m, and not £4.2m.
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