Posted by Atser Godwin on
Public funds looted and stashed away in Swiss banks by the late Gen. Sani Abacha will be released to Nigeria with interests, Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Pierre Helg, has said.
Public funds looted and stashed away in Swiss banks by the late Gen. Sani Abacha will be released to Nigeria with interests, Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Pierre Helg, has said.
Helg, in an interview with our correspondent in Agbara, Ogun State, on Friday, said Swiss authorities were determined to obey an order by Switzerland's Supreme Court in February that the funds be returned to Nigeria.
He said,'You remember that in February, the Swiss Supreme Court said that money belonging to the Abacha family should be returned to the Nigerian government and the Swiss government is committed to returning the money to Nigeria.
'Nigerians should exercise patience.They need not worry. The money is being invested. The benefits and profit will get to you."
Although the ambassador was silent on when the $500million would be released, he said his country and Nigeria were yet to agree on a unit that would monitor the use of the funds for the development of infrastructure, roads and education.
Helg, however, gave the assurance that as soon as an agreement was reached, the funds would be released.
He commended the Federal Government for its fight against corruption, saying that it would boost investors' confidence in the country.
On debt forgiveness, Helg said the Swiss government would abide by whatever decision was taken by creditor nations.
According to him, since Switzerland's stake in the debt is small, it will not make a pronouncement that can be contrary to the views of other Paris Club members.
"We are also a creditor state although not a very large one. We won't want to say something while others would say something else. We would follow the principles and the decisions made by the Paris Club," he said.
President Olusegun Obasanjo in his Democracy Day broadcast on May 29 lamented that the Swiss authorities had not been forthcoming on the release of the funds despite the fact that Nigeria had done everything they demanded.
He appealed to 'all men and women of goodwill and honest disposition in the world to condemn the hypocritical action of the Swiss authorities."
The Punch, Monday, June 06, 2005