We seek avenue to return stolen funds – US

 

The United States government has reiterated its commitment to return stolen funds to Nigeria, stressing that “it is looking for the right mechanism to repatriate the funds”.

An official of the Department of State, who would not want his name in print, stated this while receiving a delegation of seven Nigerian journalists in Washington DC, the US capital.

The official noted that America did not want a situation where the repatriated funds would be stolen again after it had been returned, adding that the country was also working on enabling laws to repatriate the funds .

The official also disclosed that since 2015, the United States has given over half a billion dollars to Nigeria.

According to the official, when broken down, the money is 20-30 million dollars monthly, stressing that it partnering with the Nigerian military, and Civil Society Organisations in the fight against insurgency.

The Department of State official stated that although Americans know little about Nigeria, they however, associate the country with advanced fee fraud popularly referred to as 419 as well as acts of corruption.

He also stated that the average American also know Nigeria as a football nation.

He described Nigeria as Africa’s giant and he largest democracy in the continent commending the country for the improvement of its electoral process since 2015.

“When we look at Africa, Nigeria is the giant, then South Africa. Nigeria has the largest democracy; 2015 was an improvement of the electoral process. We look at Nigeria as the most strategic in Africa. We want to see Nigeria continue grow in democracy, economic growth and prosperity, democratic stability. Nigeria has the greatest potentials for growth due to its large market.”

According to the official, President Buhari was the first African leader to be invited to the White House, adding that “there was a reason for that.”

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