The United States Department of Justice has agreed to transfer approximately $52.88 million in forfeited assets to Nigeria to assist the people through electrification projects and cross-border efforts to combat terrorism.

The agreement was signed in Abuja by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice of Nigeria, Lateef O. Fagbemi, SAN, and U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard M. Mills Jr.

A statement by the DOJ revealed that under the agreement, $50 million of the recovered funds will be dedicated to an expansion of the Distributed Access Through Renewable Energy Scale-Up project, an existing electrification project funded, in part, by the International Development Association and implemented by the Nigerian Rural Electrification Agency.

The DOJ also said approximately $2.88 million of the forfeited funds will be used towards Nigeria’s contribution to the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ) and used to support capacity-building for criminal justice sector practitioners and relevant stakeholders in the region, including through activities focused on countering the financing of terrorism, development and implementation of the Counter-Terrorism Academic Curriculum of the IIJ, and institutional support for the IIJ particularly in the North, West, and East Africa regions.

The DOJ revealed that the assets were forfeited as part of an investigation by the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative of the International Unit of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS), a dedicated team that seek s to forfeit the proceeds of foreign official corruption and, where appropriate, repatriate those assets to the countries harmed by corruption for the benefit of their people.

"According to court documents, from 2011 to 2015, Nigerian businessmen Kolawole Akanni Aluko and Olajide Omokore conspired with others to pay bribes to Nigeria’s former Minister for Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke. In return, Alison-Madueke used her influence to steer lucrative oil contracts to companies owned by Aluko and Omokore.

"Proceeds from the scheme of more than $100 million were then laundered into and through the United States and used to purchase various assets, including luxury real estate in California and New York as well as the Galactica Star, a 65-meter superyacht. The real estate was also used as collateral for loans to Aluko and shell companies he controlled. As part of the forfeiture process, those lien holders were paid.

"The assets were forfeited as a result of corruption, bribery, money laundering, and other illegal acts in violation of Nigerian and U.S. law.

"The Federal Repubic of Nigeria provided crucial assistance to the United States leading to the forfeitures, including providing extensive evidentiary and investigative support," the DOJ said.

"The assets were forfeited as a result of corruption, bribery, money laundering, and other illegal acts in violation of Nigerian and U.S. law.

"The Federal Repubic of Nigeria provided crucial assistance to the United States leading to the forfeitures, including providing extensive evidentiary and investigative support," the DOJ said.