The US government says it is interested in combating corruption in other countries, including Nigeria, because of its debilitating effects on nations and how it exacerbates other problems.
It went on to say that it would continue to advocate for financial sanctions and visa restrictions against corrupt actors.
Aside from facilitating various forms of criminality, widespread corruption in Nigeria is said to be linked to higher levels of poverty, income inequality, and a lack of education and health care.
At a recent press conference, Richard Nephew, the newly appointed US Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption, described corruption as a critical national security issue. He did, however, note that there was no silver bullet to combat it other than a slew of reforms and a concerted effort by all parties to achieve results.
Since 2010, the Justice Department has filed cases in court to confiscate over $3.4 billion in corruption proceeds, successfully confiscated over 1.7 billion of the assets, and returned or assisted in the return of over $1.6 billion to the economies from which the money was stolen, according to Nephew.
The US Government recently signed an agreement with the Federal Government to release $23.4 million to Nigeria as part of funds looted by a former Head of State, late Gen Sani Abacha. So far, the US has returned millions of dollars looted by the late dictator to Nigeria.
According to Mary Leonard, the US ambassador to Nigeria, "this repatriation brings the total amount of funds repatriated in this case by the US to more than $334.7 million. It is in recognition of the role corruption plays in undermining democracy that the United States considers the fight against corruption to be a core national security interest," she added. To that end, President Joe Biden strongly supported the United States' anti-corruption strategy in December."
Meanwhile, Nephew stated that his team would work directly with foreign governments to accelerate progress toward meeting global anti-corruption commitments, including providing assistance to those who fail to meet international commitments when necessary. He went on to say that the team would also meet with civil society organizations and private-sector partners to get their perspectives.
"Corruption is pervasive, frankly, because it is at least temporarily quite lucrative to those who engage in it," he added. So the main challenge is to deal with corruption across the board because it is something that will always be seen as appealing, and part of our goal is to ensure that it is not. So we will have these kinds of anti-corruption requirements all over the world, we will have a number of bilateral relationships to assist us in dealing with them," he added.