The UK government has paid Nigeria 3 million after confiscating a similar sum from a Nigerian businessman in the UK last November, the Nigerian government's City lawyer revealed last week.

But the UK government has not yet handed information subject to a mutual assistance request over to the Nigerians, Colin Joseph, a partner in the litigation department of City firm Kendall Freeman, told a session on Africa at the conference.

The Nigerians sent mutual assistance requests to the UK government in 2000, relating to the alleged $2-$5 billion (1.1-2.8 billion) stolen by the former head of state, Sani Abacha, who died of a drugs overdose in 1998.

The Home Office finally gave the green light to the mutual assistance requests - following a lengthy judicial review (see [2001] Gazette, 17 May, 3) - but the information was never sent and eventually civil actions in the UK made it irrelevant, Mr Joseph said.

Another senior City fraud lawyer at the conference said the failure by the UK government to send the information to Nigeria was 'disturbing'.

Mr Joseph said the Swiss government has said it will transfer $500 million frozen in Swiss bank accounts - because it was taken by Abacha - back to Nigeria, but only on guarantee that the money will be properly used.

He said that such a political condition applied to repayment was unprecedented.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office confirmed that 3 million had been paid on an ex gratia basis 'for moral reasons'.

There was no admission as to its origin, she said.

Jeremy Fleming