About $1bn was stolen under Abacha —Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has said close to $1bn was “stolen under a previous, undemocratic junta in the 1990s.”

Buhari, in an article published in Newsweek, a United States-based magazine, expressed appreciation to the “friendly nations” that returned the stolen funds.

Though the President did not mention Abacha by name, it was apparent he was referring to the deceased dictator.

The Punch reports that, three weeks ago, Nigeria received $311m in repatriated Abacha loot from the United States and the Bailiwick of Jersey.

After Nigeria recovered the loot from US and Jersey, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, said the money would be used in expediting the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Abuja-Kano road, and the Second Niger Bridge.

Previous recoveries had also been made from UK and Switzerland.