A warning to corrupt African Leaders that all the monies stolen from our people ,will one day be return back
to them .Read this .
Luntang

Switzerland Repatriates $458m to Nigeria

This Day (Lagos)
Posted to the web February 17, 2005
Kunle Aderinokun
Abuja

FG to start drawing funds in March
The Federal Government yesterday announced that the Swiss government has approved the repatriation of $458
million, being bulk of the $505 million of public fund stashed away in various private bank accounts in that
country by the late General Sani Abacha and his family.
Making this disclosure yesterday in Abuja at the instance of Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Pierre Helg,
Finance Ministe Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the fund will be transferred into the International Bank for
Settlement (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland, and that Nigeria will be able to withdraw the money by the end of
March this year.
Okonjo-Iweala, who said the Swiss authorities did not attach any condition for the repatriation of the
siphoned monies, said the release was sequel to the judgment of the Swiss Federal Court, which ruled that the
"Swiss authorities may return assets of obviously criminal origin to Nigeria even without a court decision in
the country concerned."
The finance minister said President Olusegun Obasanjo since assumption of office had vigorously and
relentlessly pursued return of the funds with the help of the National Security Adviser and herself.
Noting that with this development, Switzerland has earned a positive status as the first country to return
funds illegally placed by the Abacha family, Okonjo-Iweala said "the Federal Government is indeed grateful to
the government of Switzerland for the principled and focused manner in which it has pursued this just cause."
"We hope that the Swiss example at both the political and judicial level will show the way for other countries
where our national resources have been illegally transferred. Switzerland's policy on this issue is a clear
sign that crime does not pay. Nigeria is ready to work with other governments to achieved the repatriation of
other funds which were siphoned out of the country illegally," she added.
She recalled that Obasanjo had on behalf of the administration made a commitment to the Swiss government that
the Abacha loots will be used for developmental projects in health and education as well as for infrastructure
(roads, electricity and water supply) for the benefit of Nigerians.
"This", she pointed out, "is of course, very much in keeping with the priorities of the National Economic
Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), the nation's blue-print for reducing poverty, creating wealth
and generating employment."
She stated that after receiving the assurances of the Swiss authorities that the funds will be released , the
federal government had "decided to factor most of the Abacha funds into the 2004 budget so that the urgent
challenges of providing infrastructure and social services to our people would not be delayed. This is to
ensure that our programmes which are on-going are adequately funded."
According to her, the Federal Government had distributed the recovered $505 million looted funds in the 2004
budget as: rural electrification, $170million (N21.70billion); priority economic roads, $140 million
(N18.60billion); primary health care vaccination programme, $80 million (N10.83 billion); support to secondary
and basic education, $60 million (N7.74 billion); and portable water and rural irrigation, $50 million (N6.20
billion).
In his remarks, the Swiss ambassador to Nigeria, Helg said "Switzerland possesses an efficient set of legal
instruments to defend itself against the inflow of illegal assets, and to recognize, block and return them to
their rightful owners." He noted that "the recent decision of the Federal Supreme Court will strengthen the
deterrent effect of Switzer-land's legal mechanism against potential future inflows of illegal capital."
He added that "the decision strengthens the Swiss position regarding the restitution of funds of politically
exposed persons, which is: Switzerland has no interest in accepting illegal funds. It's financial center does
not provide for a safe haven for illegal money, which should primarily be used for the benefit of the people
of the country in question. The point must again be made that Swiss banking secrecy is not an obstacle to the
investigation of criminal acts and to the international efforts to combat crime."
He said Switzerland has received assurances from Obasanjo and Okonjo-Iweala that the returned funds will be
channeled to the areas of health (fighting HIV/AIDS), education and infrastructure in the 2004/2005 fiscal
period.
"The funds will be used within the framework of the Nigeria national strategy to implement the United Nations
Millennium Goals. The Nigerian government has given assurances of transparency in the use of the funds and is
in agreement to the full inspection of the relevant accounts. Switzerland has an interest in preventing the
funds from being recycled for criminal purposes.
"For this reasons, it has agreed with Nigeria to place control on projects financed by the Abacha's assets.
These controls are expected to be carried out by the World Bank. The exact modalities are in the process of
being established. Nigeria has given its consent to allowing civil society to play an appropriate role in this
monitoring project," he said.
The Abacha family had relentlessly waged legal battles to stop the release of the funds. But the Swiss Federal
Court last week, ruled in favour of the repatriation of the monies back to Nigeria.
The Swiss authorities have investigated bank accounts linked to the Abacha family for over three years since
the Nigerian government accused the late leader of looting up to $3 billion from state coffers during his rule
from 1993 until his death in June 1998.
Last month, one of the Abacha sons, Abba, was arrested in Neuss, Germany when he attempted to close an
account. He was accused of money laundering, fraud and breach of trust, and Swiss authorities sought his extra
dition from Germany to assist them in the course of their investigations.
Nine Swiss banks were reportedly investigated during the period. The first restitution of $200 million from
the Abacha funds in Switzwerland was in 2003.





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