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As the Swiss Government prevaricates and foot-drags over letting go the princely over $500 million stashed away in her secretive banks' vaults by Nigeria's former military leader, General Sani Abacha, the Presidency scales up her unrelenting campaigns to reclaim the looted funds.
As the Swiss Government prevaricates and foot-drags over letting go the princely over $500 million stashed away in her secretive banks' vaults by Nigeria's former military leader, General Sani Abacha, the Presidency scales up her unrelenting campaigns to reclaim the looted funds. The unfolding scenario has triggered fears of a possible untoward script being written by the Swiss authorities, a hidden agenda targeted at 'looting' the looted funds. Louis Achi tracks the unfolding controversies and what they may portend ultimately for the successful repatriation of the Abacha loot to Nigeria...
"We have fulfilled all conditions raised by the Swiss for the monitoring of the way the fund would be spent including involving the World Bank in the monitoring exercise," President Olusegun Obasanjo told Nigerians in a broadcast to the nation penultimate Sunday with reference to the puzzling foot-dragging by Swiss authorities in returning funds held in their banks deposited by former military Head of State, General Sani Abacha. In further elaboration and for good measure he observed: "We have done everything the Swiss authorities have asked us to do. They have even resorted to blackmail to the ridiculous extent of giving conditions for us to repatriate Nigerians alleged to have run foul of their laws before releasing our money.
"Instructions have been given that bona fide Nigerians in that category should be repatriated but that is yet to be done. Yet the Swiss authorities have refused to obey their own Supreme Court which has asked them to release $458 million out of the funds unconditionally. Under whatever laws, there can be absolutely no connection between the return of stolen funds and the repatriation of offending nationals and it is most embarrassing that a resort should be made to such indefensible positions."
Since the Obasanjo administration came into office in 1999, the Federal Government has been involved in series of negotiations with the Swiss authorities to get public funds stashed away in that country's vaults returned to Nigeria. More specifically, it has been severally established that General Abacha who ruled Nigeria between 1993 and 1998 looted several billion dollars in public funds and laundered it through foreign bank accounts. Recently the Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala confirmed that Nigeria had been pursuing the banks through the courts for four years and some two billion dollars had been returned at press time.
Late last year, an 18-member government delegation led by Okonjo-Iweala visited Switzerland to honour another round of negotiations which was expected to result in the delivery of $618m looted funds back to Nigeria.
Swiss Reaction
In a quick reaction to President Obasanjo broadcast the Swiss envoy to Nigeria Ambassador Pierre Helg, apparently at his diplomatic best, expressed Switzerland's understanding with Abuja's impatience but nevertheless "respectfully disagree with the current views expressed by the Nigerian President." He supplied a four-point position to underscore his country's perceived prevarication:
If it is correct that the Swiss Supreme Court has decided that the
funds should be returned to Nigeria, this same Court has not specified anything about the modalities of the restitution. The Swiss Government, which is committed and willing to transfer these funds to Nigeria, is competent to set these modalities.
Nigeria and Switzerland agreed that the money should be used for development projects in the interest of the poor (infrastructure,education and health), under the monitoring of the World Bank. The way of monitoring the use of the Abacha funds is still under active consideration between the stakeholders. As soon as an agreement is reached, which is expected to happen in the near future, the Swiss Government will release first the liquidities ($290 million), then the bonds and properties, which cannot be sold without respecting dead-lines ($170 million). The interests and profits made on the Abacha funds in Switzerland during these additional months will of course be returned to Nigeria.
There is no Swiss intention to undermine the Nigerian anti-corruption and transparency efforts. On the contrary, by asking the World Bank to keep an eye on the good and accountable use of these funds, Switzerland makes sure that this money won't go back ... to its banks!
Last, the repatriation of the illegal Nigerian immigrants living currently in Switzerland is not a condition for the restitution of the funds. It is only a coincidental issue between the two countries and Switzerland expects a more pro-active cooperation from the Nigerian authorities in this context.
More Twists
Even as the whole drama unfolds the Swiss Federal Banking Commission, Switzerland's banking watchdog, recently reprimanded the country's largest bank, UBS, following the discovery of $60 million in an account linked to the family of the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha earlier this year. The commission said in a statement that its investigation had found that UBS had not done enough to identify the account holders and beneficiaries under Swiss anti-money laundering regulations. The two beneficiaries, who used fake names, have since been found to be Abacha's sons, according to officials. The regulator ordered the bank to submit to an independent on-site audit of its application of due diligence standards next year.
"The Federal Banking Commission concluded from its investigations that UBS had failed to fulfill its duty to collect detailed information and review the economic background for unusual business relationships, in connection with the opening of the account in 1996," the statement said. It also found that UBS "did not conduct its search for potential business links to the Abacha family with due care and diligence".
It would be recalled that UBS announced in February that it had discovered the account opened by a British client with Nigerian business partners, more than three years after high-profile legal action had been launched to seize hundreds of millions of dollars of Abacha assets held in Switzerland. In April, Nigeria reached a landmark deal with Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein on the restitution of more than one billion dollars embezzled by the Abacha family and deposited in European banks. In all, Switzerland returned about $615 million.
The deal will, however, give the Abacha family freedom from prosecution in matters related to the looted funds. Although it is not clear if the deal will affect other criminal charges against the family, the Supreme Court recently ruled that Mohammed Sani Abacha had no case to answer concerning the assassination of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of presumed winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief M.K.O. Abiola. In a previous inquiry two years ago, the Federal Banking Commission condemned six banks, including Credit Suisse, for ignoring money-laundering rules when they handled funds embezzled by the Abacha clan.
But its investigation at the time did not find flaws or wrongdoing at UBS. As it were, recently, the Federal Banking Commission boosted its anti-money laundering guidelines by ordering banks based in Switzerland to conduct their own investigation of old and new business relationships which "involve increased levels of risk". "This means that banks will not be allowed to rely entirely on information supplied by other clients, but must instead examine such statements critically and verify them through their own investigations," it added.
Hans-Peter Bauer, risk operations director at UBS, said that the bank's policy was clear. "The bank wants to avoid this kind of dubious relationship under any circumstance." UBS took on the account on behalf of a corporate client in 1996 when it was backed by a long-standing and respected British customer, according to the regulator. It found that UBS had simply relied on the customer's declaration that his two Nigerian partners were not "politically exposed persons".
After the account was opened, it was credited with transfers from banks in Germany, Jersey and Kenya, but there were no transactions after 1999. UBS conducted three sweeps of its accounts for Abacha-related deposits between 1999 and 2001, but failed to find anything because the bank "did not know the names of everyone in Abacha's entourage" and its electronic archiving was flawed, the regulator said. The Banking Commission acknowledged that UBS had since made significant efforts to strengthen its internal procedures, but their effectiveness would be subject to a Commission audit.
The Illegal Immigrants Card
Several public issue analysts feel that Switzerland is getting unnecessarily recalcitrant and constraining the flow of dialogue by linking all sorts of conditions to addressing the main, citing the example of illegal Nigerian immigrants in the Northern European country. Initially reports said Swiss authorities halted a deal to hand back the over $500 million stolen by the late General Abacha and hidden in the country's banks while it sought to expel Nigerian illegal immigrants.
A miffed President Olusegun Obasanjo lent weight to the veracity of the development when, on a recent visit to Paris, accused Switzerland of acting illegally in side-stepping a ruling from its own Supreme Court, which in February ordered that the funds be returned and demanded that the money be immediately returned. "I must express deepest disappointment and dismay with the Swiss authorities who continue to hold onto Nigeria's legitimate funds, covertly looted and kept in their banks," he told an audience of dignitaries at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, according to the presidential spokeswoman, Mrs Remi Oyo.
"The necessary and correct actions for the funds' repatriation have been taken by us and the Swiss Supreme Court has ruled that the funds should be returned to Nigeria without condition," he said, adding: "Such illegal seizure is condemned by us and we call on all men and women of honest disposition and goodwill to condemn the Swiss action which is contrary to United Nations conventions against corruption and which undermines our own anti-corruption crusade."
Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who was also in Paris at the period said Nigeria's legal representative in Switzerland had received a letter from the Swiss Federal Office of Justice saying that the repayment would be delayed while the country sought to expel Nigerian illegal immigrants. "We're just completely flabbergasted, what they are doing is tantamount to blackmail," she said on telephone. The minister said that, following earlier Swiss assurances, the money was included in Nigeria's 2004 budget and that when it was not handed over she had been forced to issue government bonds to pay for poverty eradication projects.
The Swiss letter said $290 million would be released when a deal had been reached with the World Bank to monitor how it would be spent and the balance paid after four months if the immigration issue is resolved, the minister said. Swiss officials were not immediately available for comment. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala insisted that the World Bank and Swiss non-governmental organisations had already agreed on how to monitor the spending of the stolen money, and expressed anger that the situation of Nigerian immigrants in Switzerland could be raised as a means of further delaying its return. "What has that got to do with our money? They've already deported two plane loads of people. Why would you hold up money that's supposed to be spent on education, clean water supplies and rural electrification?" she demanded.
In its own reaction to Nigeria's accusation, Switzerland said it would pay the first part of about $460 million in seized funds stolen by the late General Sani Abacha back to Nigeria as soon as World Bank monitoring has been set up. In further clarification, a spokesman for the Swiss Federal Justice Ministry denied that new conditions had been imposed on the restitution deal, following a claim by Nigeria that repayment was being delayed pending the expulsion of illegal Nigerian immigrants from Switzerland. "It is not a condition for the restitution of this money," ministry spokesman, Livio Zanolari said. The repatriation of illegal immigrants "is only an issue of discussion between the two countries," that had existed for several years, he added.
Yet More Swiss Conditions...
Not unlike a senior prefect handling a recalcitrant pupil and apparently not done with setting successive conditions that must precede the infamous loot's repatriation, the Swiss authorities further insisted that the World Bank would monitor the funds to ensure that the money was used by Nigeria for development projects. According to Switzerland, Bern has decided to return about $290 million of the Abacha money in a first stage as soon as control methods are defined by World Bank, the justice and police ministry said in a recent statement. Assets accounting for the remaining $170 million, which are currently tied-up, are to be unblocked and transferred to a separate account.
Nigeria has for the umpteenth time assured Switzerland that the Abacha funds will be used to pay for development projects in areas such as health, education and infrastructure. Money for infrastructure would be spent on road construction, electricity and water supply. These projects were financed as early as last year by means of a bridging loan. In the view of some observers, the new conditions set by Switzerland for the return of the loot have not caused much thawing in relations between both countries with President Olusegun Obasanjo using the opportunity of his democracy broadcast last week to lash out at the Swiss government, accusing Bern of attempting to subvert the sovereignty of Nigeria.
Justice and Police officials in Bern who have been stunned by the angry Nigerian government response, now say this first tranche of $290 million of the Abacha money would be sent to Nigeria in a first stage as soon as control methods are defined by the World Bank.
However, contrary to claims by the Nigerian government, officials in Bern have said there are no further conditions for the repatriation of the looted funds and they also have dismissed charges from Aso Rock that Switzerland had blocked return of the money until there was a solution to the problem of illegal Nigerian immigrants in Switzerland. "It is not a condition for the return of the money," insists Justice ministry spokesman Livio Zanolari.
He added that the repatriation the immigrants had been "an issue of discussion between the two countries" for several years. Assets accounting for the remaining $170 million, which are currently tied-up, are to be unblocked and transferred to a separate account.
As the ding-dong which many view as part of negotiations continue, the patience of some Nigerian elites are fraying. In this connection, former Minister of Education, Professor Aliyu Babs Fafunwa described Switzerland as the most corrupt nation in Europe. "Of all the governments of the world, the Swiss government is noted for being the most notorious as the safest haven for thieves who stole their governments' money, whether that thief is a Nigerian Head of State or that of Phillipine, Argentina, Congo Kinshasha or Haiti. It is rather ironocal that Transparency International does not think it proper to list Switzerland as the first or second most corrupt nation in the world for harboring, encouraging and enticing all robbers of public treasuries around the world to bring their loot for safe-keeping in their dirty vaults," Fafunwa observed.
As if realising that it's integrity may also be at stake with the way the Swiss authority has been handling the Abacha loot issue, Transparency International (TI) has asked the Presidency to forward to it a formal letter of protest to enable the global anti-graft body take on the government of Switzerland.
Dr. Peter Eigen, TI Chairman, who recently visited Nigeria, said he was disappointed that the money for which all arrangements had been concluded for repatriation back to Nigeria was now marred in unnecessary politics.
Eigen therefore directed the Senior Special Assistant to the President and head of the Due Process office, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, to formally write the agency so the matter could be taken up during this month's meeting in Berlin.
Any End to the Maze?
Against the background of Obasanjo's unrelenting reforms regime and the developmental leverage the Abacha loot could provide, it's unlikely that he would let go easily of this alluring, handsome purse. But can he play the Swiss game? Some experts say that Obasanjo's trademark short temper will certainly not work here. Switzerland's banking reputation warn of a more diplomatic and sophisticated engagement to produce the desired result.
But whatever Obasanjo may lack in polish and diplomacy is certainly more than made up for by the panache, erudition and depth of his economic team, many analysts say. Beyond a bit of crystal-ball gazing to glean which way the Swiss cat will jump eventually, some observers believe that there is reason for optimism. With due process and transparency now a common international apparrel, many feel that the conservative, tricky Swiss will certainly come around and play ball. But the question remains as to how soon.