EU:Obasanjo Has No Foreign Accounts



This Day (Lagos)

October 17, 2005 
Posted to the web October 17, 2005 

Kingsley Nwezeh
Abuja 

The European Union (EU) at the weekend said President Olusegun Obasanjo has no foreign accounts.

Speaking to African journalists on tour of the European Union Commission Headq-uarters in Brussels, President of the Commission, Joze-Manuel Barozo, said the Commission was not aware of any bank account in any foreign country harbouring Obasanjo's money.

     
Barazo's briefing, which was stopped midway for him to embark on a rushed trip to Darfur in Sudan, was, however, completed by the EU's Director General, Press and Communi-cation, Amadeu Altafaj.

Altafaj said: "We do not think that President Obasanjo has millions in foreign banks."

Besides, the EU also gave a clean bill of health to the leaders of South Africa and Senegal, Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Abdulaye Wade, respectively:

"We have not found anything on them, too. These three African leaders are not like the former military despots in the continent who frittered away millions of US dollars of the continent's money to foreign bank accounts. We have new regulations that will take care of that. It is on record that bizzare looting happened under late Nigerian leader, General Sani Abacha whose stolen funds were found all over Europe. Something is going on, something is being worked out to get all these back," he said.

He disclosed that the EU was encouraging Switzerland to join its fold so that the country could be part of the reforms going in the Commission, particularly as it affects looting of funds by some African leaders.

"On African leaders who fritter away public funds, things are changing. It is still happening but it is less now because of NEPAD (New Economic Partnership for African Development). In Africa, there is democratisation and that will take care of it.

We (EU) are trying to convince Switzerland to join the European Union and follow regulations because the regulations are changing and we are applying them," he said.

The EU who said it would soon launch, an ambitious partnership project "strategy for Africa in collaboration with the African Union (AU) for the development of the continent."

It said it has voted 250million euros for peace keeping operations in Africa, adding that it was evolving a strategy that would check placement of looted funds in European banks.

Barozo had earlier said the strategy for Africa was a document drafted by African regional unions in collaboration with members of the African Union.

The project which would be launched at the European Union Commission headquarters in Brussels would attract the chairman of African Union Commission and former President of Mali, Alfred Omar Konare, African leaders notably, Obasanjo, Mbeki, Wade among other African leaders.

The project, according to Barozo, is a partnership agreement between the two continents (Africa and Europe and it seeks to strenghten the capacity of the African initiative, the NEPAD. It would also focus on the development of South-South trade, development of energy resources, regional commerce, construction of regional and inter-continental railways, roads as well as other "regional infrastructure that would enhance economic co-operation in the unfolding Euro-African partnership."

"The strategy was drafted with the help of regional organisations in consultation with African Union leaders. We are involving the African actors and it is within the framework for a Euro-African partnership.

It is a huge task because one single donor cannot tackle the problems in Africa hence this arrangement.

"There will not be any long term development that will enable economies to function other than this and this will strenghten the capacities to tackle issues like South-South trade, regional trade, railways, roads, energy and other development issues.

"There are areas where donors can pay attention to in line with this strategy. It is for effectiveness and we reached an agreement with member states," he said.

The areas to be covered include security, governance, economic growth, trade and infrastructure. He said EU had made available 250million euros for peace keeping operations in Africa because peace was a pre-condition for development in tandem with the Millenium Development Goals (MDG).

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