The Bailiwick of Jersey has signed a memorandum of understanding with Nigeria to return more than $9.5 million identified as proceeds of corruption, with the funds to be used for infrastructure.
Jersey’s Attorney General, Mark Temple KC, signed the agreement in December 2025, with the deal formally confirmed in Abuja on January 9, 2026, according to a statement from the British High Commission.
The money was forfeited after Jersey’s Royal Court ruled on January 12, 2024, that funds held in a local bank account were “more likely than not” the proceeds of a corrupt scheme involving the diversion of Nigerian government funds by third-party contractors for senior officials and their associates.
“This successful return demonstrates the strength of our civil forfeiture legislation as a powerful tool in the fight against corruption,” Temple said, thanking Nigerian authorities for their cooperation.
The agreement builds on earlier deals under which more than $300 million has been repatriated to Nigeria to fund major projects, including the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, the Second Niger Bridge and the Abuja–Kano Road.
The recovered $9.5 million will be used for the final stages of the Abuja–Kano Road, a key transport link between Nigeria’s capital and its second-largest city.
Nigeria’s Attorney General, Lateef Fagbemi, said the recovery showed there was “no safe haven for illicitly acquired wealth”, assuring that the funds would be “judiciously utilised” in line with the agreement.
