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Nigeria Welcomes Swiss Offer To Repatriate New $321m Abacha Loot

The Federal Government has welcomed an offer by the Swiss government to return an additional $321m in funds stolen from Nigeria under the Sani Abacha government.

Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who made the disclosure today in Abuja during a meeting with a delegation of the Swiss government, according to a statement by his office, said Nigeria was developing a framework that will aid the repatriation of such stolen assets stashed abroad by those who looted the country’s resources in the past.

The Swiss delegation was led by the country’s Federal Councillor and Head of its Foreign Affairs Department, Mr. Didier Burkhalter and the Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Eric Mayoruz. 

“We guarantee that recovered assets would be put to uses for which they have been intended,” Professor Osinbajo said, explaining that a framework was being developed to ensure exactly that.

He announced that the framework, once finalized, will be made available publicly, adding that it would cover the whole spectrum from the source of the stolen asset to how it would be managed once recovered.

He said “the framework will guarantee that returned assets will be used in the interest of the people of this country.”  

He commended the Swiss government on its assistance in repatriating the Nigeria’s stolen assets, noting that the Swiss have always been at the forefront of returning stolen assets and ensuring that the people of Nigeria gets the benefit.

Later the Attorney-General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, signed an agreement described as a "Letter of Intent" between the Swiss government and the Nigerian government on the restitution of illegally-acquired assets forfeited in Switzerland. Mr. Burkhalter signed the letter for the Swiss government.

Under the agreement the Swiss government will award to Nigeria $321m “of funds illicitly acquired by the Abacha family, initially deposited in Luxembourg and confiscated by the Judiciary of the Republic and Canton of Geneva pursuant to a Forfeiture order dated 11th December 2014.”

When these latest funds are returned, they will bring to about $1.5 billion the funds that the Swiss have so far repatriated to Nigeria.  

It will be recalled that late last month, the Federal High Court ordered the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari to publish a complete dossier of all funds recovered by his predecessor administrations since 1999, as well as how they were spent, and to open a dedicated website for that purpose.  

In his address to the Swiss delegation today, Vice-President Osinbajo did not say anything about that order, and it remains unclear as to when the government intends to implement it.

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Corruption