Posted by By Luka Binniyat on
Special Senior Adviser to the President on Public Affairs, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, yesterday, criticised the Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Pierre Helg, for saying recently that as part of the condition for releasing the $500million Abacha loot stashed away in Swiss banks
ABUJA - Special Senior Adviser to the President on Public Affairs, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, yesterday, criticised the Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Pierre Helg, for saying recently that as part of the condition for releasing the $500million Abacha loot stashed away in Swiss banks, Nigeria must evacuate her nationals, which Helg said, are engaged in prostitution in Switzerland.
Fani-Kayode said that the evacuation of Nigerians engaged in prostitution in Switzerland, if there is any, was never part of the conditions for the return of the loot. He then called to question the moral authority of the Swiss.
'Nigeria has never approved of same sex marriages; Nigeria does not partake in massive abortion practice, nor does Nigeria engage in Stem-Cell research", he charged, 'we are on the average, a God-fearing Nation.
'Nigeria is really angry about these pronouncements from the Swiss Ambassador", he went on, 'we have fulfilled all the conditions set out for the return of this stolen money and President Olusegun Obasanjo is going to do his best to get this money back for the improvement of our Nation", he said.
Fani-Kayode made the statement when officials of the Southern Youth Foundation (SYF), conferred on him a Certificate of Excellence in his office in Abuja yesterday.
He also alleged that there is a foreign conspiracy to undermine the rising profile of Nigeria both as a regional giant and its drive to being a member of the United Nations' Security Council.
' Be it in our quest to man the Chairman position of the African Development Bank, or in the false spread of rumour about insecurity in Nigeria leading to the closure of some Embassies, or the report that says Nigeria would break up", he pointed out, 'there is an external conspiracy to undermine our rising leadership profile", he said, 'but we are a nation that believes in God, and President Obasanjo would never be distracted from positioning Nigeria as the overall number one country in Africa."
He said that though the present government met only $1.2 billion in Nigeria's external reserve, but has swelled it to $22 billion presently.
According to Fani-Kayode, Nigeria has been in the vanguard of debt cancellation for African countries which has led to the cancellation of the debt of 18 'very poor", countries, 14 of them in Africa.
He cited these as among the reasons why 'some people think we are moving too fast and are not comfortable with it."