The Federal Government has said it had not returned the £4.2 million fund linked to former Delta State Governor James Ibori to the state government. A statement yesterday in Abuja by the Director of Information, Press and Public Relations in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Henshaw Ogubike said: “The money is still being awaited, after which the issues around it will be resolved before further action is taken. For now, no money has been returned to Delta State”. The statement explained that “the issue of the £4.2 million Ibori loot has not been properly resolved”.

Alluding to the Accountant General’s statement to the National Assembly on Tuesday that the alleged Ibori-linked loot had been returned to the state government, Ogubike said: “The AGF was only making general comments about recoveries relating to state governments.” The Delta State government yesterday denied receipt of the £4.2 million loot from the Federal Government. It said although the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris, had told the House of Representatives Committee on Recovered Assets in Abuja that the fund had been released to the State, the money had not arrived in its coffers.

In a statement yesterday in Asaba, the state capital, by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor, Mr. Olisa Ifejika, the State Government said it was in contact with the Federal Government, especially the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, on the matter. 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 state government also assured the Federal Government and Deltans that the funds would, in tandem with the principles of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration, be judiciously deployed, especially for the completion of projects it had agreed with the Presidency.

Source: The Nation