Delta government has requested President Muhammadu Buhari return the recovered £4.2 million stolen by former Governor James Ibori to the state.

The UK government had arrested, prosecuted and jailed the former governor for money laundering. The loot recovered from Mr Ibori would be repatriated to Nigeria by the United Kingdom.

Speaking on Channels Television, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa said, “I have spoken with the attorney general of the federation. My attorney general went to have a meeting with him. I think that we are working, and we are likely to come on the same page. We have written a formal letter of protest to Mr President.”

The governor added that he would expect President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime to establish the same relationship it did with the UK in returning the recovered loot to Delta.

“In the same manner of the relationship created between the UK and Nigeria, we also expect that the Nigerian government will do the same thing by being magnanimous to return the money to the source, which is Delta state,” argued Mr Okowa.

To ensure the state benefits from the looted funds, he recommended to Mr Buhari, “We have made two suggestions: return the money directly to us or apply it directly to projects that we feel are of importance and are in Delta state so that Deltans can directly benefit from the repatriated funds and I don’t think anybody can fault that line (of thinking).”

Mr Okowa expressed optimism that Mr Buhari would grant the appeal and dismissed claims that the recovered loot would “develop wings” if returned to Delta.

“I don’t see how the money will develop wings anyway,” he asserted. “That is why we have directly put down projects – three projects where this money can be applied directly to such a manner that it is something you can investigate.”

Mr Buhari’s regime and the UK on March 9 resolved to return the £4.2 million recovered from families and friends of Mr Ibori.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who signed for Nigeria, revealed that Mr Buhari directed should use the recovered loot to complete the second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, and the Abuja-Kano expressway projects.

Mr Buhari’s directive was faulted by critics who argued that the funds be returned to the state where it was stolen. The House of Representatives had also kicked against the federal government’s decision.

Similarly, human rights activist Femi Falana said the fund belonged to Delta and not Mr Buhari’s regime.