Kurt Campbell, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, has applauded the Nigeria’s Government for its efforts that led to the repatriation of funds linked to forfeited luxury real estate and the Galactica Star Superyacht.
BusinessDay had reported that the Nigeria’s Government received $52.88 million from the United States of America (USA) classified as ‘recovered assets’ from Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former Petroleum Minister under the Administration of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
Campbell made the commendation through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during a valedictory telephone conversation, commending the Minister, Yusuf Tuggar and his team.
Tuggar, in a statement signed by Alkasim Abdulkadir, his Special Assistant on Media and Communications Strategy on Thursday, said the call addressed bilateral issues between the two countries, focusing on how to leverage technology to transform digital assets like Binance into mutually beneficial opportunities for Nigeria to establish itself as a hub for data mining, data storage, and artificial intelligence.
Read also: FG receives $52m Diezani Alison-Madueke’s loot from US in boost for scarce forex
He quoted the Deputy Secretary of State as affirming his belief in Nigeria, noting that the successful repatriation negotiations showed readiness to fight corruption.
On his part, Tuggar appreciated Campbell for his unreserved efforts towards the success of the repatriation.
According to Tuggar, the repatriated funds will boost the Distributed Access Through Renewable Energy Scale-Up project, through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA). This is intended to increase access to electricity services in the country.
He said that as energy producers, “Nigeria’s robust gas energy transition plans, like the African Atlantic gas pipeline traversing 15 African countries, can provide the requisite energy supply for crypto players and data miners. This has great potential, and we are counting on our allies like the United States and Morocco.
“Truly, Nigeria and the United States are going back to basics, back to strong values, and this is something we can build upon.’’
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