FG To Demand Repatriation Of Looted Funds At UN Assembly

President Muhammadu Buhari will demand the repatriation of looted public funds to countries of origin, including Nigeria, at the forthcoming 72nd United Nations General Assembly holding in New York, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, said on Tuesday in Abuja.

Onyeama explained that the President would lead a large delegation to the Assembly, which would hold between September 12 and 25, 2017.

Onyeama told journalists at a briefing that the fight against terrorism, human rights protection, and repatriation of illicit financial assets to countries of origin, among other global issues, would top Nigeria’s agenda at the UN.

He said, “The country would push to actualise the UN resolution on ‘Promotion of International Cooperation to Combat Illicit Financial Flows,’ so that all the countries of the world would be fully engaged in repatriating stolen funds to countries of origin.

“For Nigeria, it is a developmental issue — it impacts directly on the developmental trajectory of Nigeria and other developing countries that resources that we need to promote development in the country are being siphoned out of the system and this has negative impact on the developmental challenges that we face.”

He added that Nigeria would renew calls for international support for the release of the remaining Chibok girls.