We're Ready to Repatriate Massive Funds Looted by Nigerians - British High Commissioner

British High Commissioner, Paul Arkwright, when he visited President at Aso Rock

The United Kingdom is ready to repatriate massive funds looted by well known Nigerians in UK banks, Paul Arkwright, the British high commissioner to Nigeria, has said in a new interview.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright has said that the United Kingdom is ready to repatriate the looted Nigerian funds saved in their country's banks, adding that the UK Government had no intention of holding onto the money.

He however disclosed that there are certain legal requirements that Nigeria had not met to facilitate the repatriation of the funds. He said, "We (UK) have no intention of holding onto Nigerian funds, they belong to the Nigerian people and they should be returned to the Nigerian people.

"Clearly, there are legal requirements that we have to meet. We are working with the Nigerian Government to see what we can do to return those funds. “They (money) will be returned, there is absolutely no doubt about it," he said.

The high commissioner said further that it was untrue that the UK was not ready to repatriate the money back to the Nigerian Government, but that issues around were being discussed. He however refused to disclose the exact amount to be repatriated, adding that everything was being done to fast-track the repatriation process.

"The Prime Minister’s anti-corruption summit will be held in May; we are hoping that President Muhammadu Buhari will attend that anti-corruption summit in London.

"We expect that there will be some further news on how we can accelerate that process of repatriating the funds.

"I think we have no intention of holding onto this money, despite some of the reports in the press," he said.

The envoy, however, said there was the need to extract the commitment of the federal government that the money would be judiciously spent when repatriated.

"We need to make sure that the money is well spent when it returns to Nigeria. We need to make sure that we can do that in a proper way, which is fully in compliance with the British law," he added.