US to trace Nigeria’s stolen funds
Buhari, Obama
The United States will offer to
help Nigeria’s new leader track down billions of dollars in stolen
assets and increase US military assistance to fight Islamic militants,
US officials said, as Washington seeks to “reset” ties with Africa’s
biggest economy.
The visit to Washington by President
Muhammadu Buhari is viewed by the US administration as a chance to set
the seal on improving ties since he won a March election, hailed as
Nigeria’s first democratic power transition in decades.
US cooperation with Buhari’s
predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, had virtually ground to a halt over
issues, including his refusal to investigate corruption and human rights
abuses by the Nigerian military.
“President (Barack Obama) has long seen Nigeria as arguably the most important strategic country in sub-Saharan Africa.
“The question is: would there be an
opportunity to deepen our engagement? That opportunity is now,” US
Deputy Secretary of State, Tony Blinken, told Reuters.
The improving ties with Nigeria,
Africa’s biggest oil producer, came as US relations have cooled with two
other traditional African powers – Egypt and South Africa.
US officials have said they were willing
to send military trainers to help Nigeria counter a six-year-old
northern insurgency by the Boko Haram Islamist movement.
Since Buhari’s election, Washington has
committed $5m in new support to a multi-national task force set up to
fight the group. This is in addition to at least $34m it is providing
for Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger for equipment and logistics.
Buhari’s move on July 13 to fire
military chiefs appointed by Jonathan cleared the way for more military
cooperation, US officials said.
“We’ve made it clear. There are
additional things that can be done, especially now that there is a new
military leadership in place,” a senior US official said.
Another senior US official said
Washington was urging Buhari, a Muslim from the country’s North, to step
up regional cooperation against the militants and to provide more aid
to afflicted communities to reduce the group’s recruiting power.
Buhari has said his priorities were
strengthening Nigeria’s economy, which has been hard-hit by the fall in
oil prices, boosting investment and tackling ‘the biggest monster of
all’ – corruption.
“Here too, he is looking to deepen
collaboration and one of the things he is focused on is asset recovery.
He is hopeful we can help them recover some of that,” the official said.
“
In 2014, the US took control of more
than $480m siphoned away by former Nigerian dictator, Sani Abacha, and
his associates into banks around the world.
Washington has broad powers to track suspicious funds and enforce sanctions against individuals.
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