Close to 15 years after General Sani Abacha's the death; Nigeria’s former military ruler, the Swiss Government has confirmed it has returned the sum of $700 million to Nigeria which was stolen by the late dictator and deposited in several Swiss banks.
The Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Hans-Rudolf Hodel, revealed the figure to the media during a briefing in Abuja on Tuesday. He also hinted his country had begun proceedings in Geneva against one of Abacha’s sons -Abba, for allegedly sponsoring a criminal organisation; however he did not go into detail as investigation is still going on.
As explained by the envoy, in the last 15 years, Switzerland has returned nearly $1.7 billion of illicit money to their countries which includes countries like; Angola, Peru, Nigeria and the Philippines.
The briefing was in respect of an international seminar by the Switzerland embassy and the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa, GIABA, and Combating the Financing of Terrorism.
The envoy seize the opportunity during the forum emphasise that there is no existence of fresh $1 billion being alluded to by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as still being held by the Swiss banks. Nevertheless, Mr Hodel stressed that, the Abacha’s case in particular, has compelled his country to adopt more strict, precise, and exacting measures to combat unlawful and illegitimate dealings in its financial sector.
He said: “Swiss banking secrecy does not give any protection against criminal prosecution, neither within Switzerland nor regarding international legal assistance. Additional measures prevent assets from being withdrawn before foreign authorities and law enforcement agencies submit a formal request for legal assistance or information for investigative purposes.”
He expressed the hope that the repatriated funds would not be embezzled by corrupt officials of the benefitting nations.
He also spoke on the bilateral relations between Nigeria and Switzerland highliting that $225 million was invested by Swiss businesses in the Nigerian economy in 2010 which is an increase from $201 million in 2009.
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