£4.2m Returned Loot: Delta govt says money, not in its coffers

By Akpos Oghenetega,

Delta State Government on Wednesday said it had not received from the Federal Government the 4.2 million pounds returned as part of looted money confiscated from the former Delta governor, Chief James Ibori by the United Kingdom.

It said that although the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Ahmed Idris, had disclosed on Tuesday before the House of Representatives Committee on Recovered Assets, in Abuja, that the funds had been released to the state, the money had not arrived in its coffers.

The government, however, said in a statement by Mr Olisa Ifeajika, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, in Asaba, that it was in contact with the Federal Government, especially the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, on the issue.

It expressed appreciation for the disposition of the Federal Government in releasing the funds to the state, and assured that it would acknowledge receipt of the funds when it arrives.

The government also assured the Federal Government and Deltans that the funds would, in tandem with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration’s hallmark, be judiciously deployed especially in the completion of projects it had earlier intimated the Presidency about.