President Commends Swiss Govt On Recovery of Looted Funds

[Richard Akindele]

President Olusegun Obasanjo has described the return of Nigeria's looted money by Switzerland as an example of how such cases should be handled in future.

The President was answering questions at a joint press conference after bilateral talks with the Swiss President, Mr. Motirz Leuenberger, in Bern on April 13.

"We are amicably, constitutionally and transparently resolving the matter, and the example of what happens here in Switzerland will help us recover any monies anywhere else in the world", he said.

President Obasanjo said bilateral issues such as double taxation, asylum seekers and bilateral air agreements had been discussed and agreements reached. He particularly ...

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604130722.html

[Richard Akindele]

Bern - Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has said other countries should follow Switzerland's example in co-operating over the return of funds, looted by his predecessor, to Nigeria.

Speaking after a Thursday meeting with Swiss President Moritz Leuenberger, Obasanjo said: "We believe the example of what happened here in Switzerland stands in good stead to recover the money anywhere else in the world.

"There has been other money that we have either got access to or we are working to get access to."

Nigeria fought a long Swiss court battle against the family of the late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha to secure the return of $700m (about R4.5bn) Abacha had siphoned away from the Nigerian central bank.

Abacha ruled Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998.

He is thought to have plundered more than $2bn in state assets.

About $47m is still frozen in Swiss bank accounts pending a legal decision.

The rest is being returned to Nigeria, to be spent on development projects under a deal, secured last year, between the Swiss and Nigerian governments and overseen by the World Bank.

Obasanjo said the issue of the Abacha money in Switzerland "has been satisfactorily resolved".

Obasanjo said: "It took some time, but when it started going, it started going well."

Nigeria has sought help from other countries to retrieve looted funds including Britain, the Channel Islands, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and the United States.
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