Posted by Yomi Odunuga and Oluyinka Akintunde, Abuja on
The Minister of Finance,Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Thursday, said the Swiss authorities had not informed the Federal Government of the repatriation of $170million (about N22.610billion) Abacha loot.
The Minister of Finance,Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Thursday, said the Swiss authorities had not informed the Federal Government of the repatriation of $170million (about N22.610billion) Abacha loot.
Okonjo-Iweala, who spoke to our correspondents on telephone in Abuja, said the Swiss authorities had only repatriated $290million out of the over $500million Abacha loot lodged in some banks in the country.
She was reacting to a report in Swissinfo, Switzerland's news platform, quoting the Swiss Justice Ministry's spokesman, Mr. Livio Zanolari, as saying that the outstanding Abacha loot had been paid into Nigeria's account with the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland.
Okonjo-Iweala said, 'They have only paid the first part of agreement with them which is $290million out of the over $500 Abacha loot lodged in the country. I am not aware of the payment of the outstanding. This is news to me.
'I hope they are reporting the right thing. No one has advised me on the payment of $170million Abacha loot by the Swiss authorities. I don't know anything about it and we are yet to receive any advice on the payment from their authorities."
The minister, however, said she was confident that the Swiss authorities would repatriate the outstanding $170million.
She said that the authorities needed some time to convert the outstanding Abacha loot from assets to transferable form.
She added, 'Let me assure you that there is no problem about the Swiss authorities paying the outstanding looted funds into Nigeria's account with the Bank for International Settlements. It is just a question of liquidating the liquid asset. They will pay the outstanding looted funds.
'They have discussed the issue with them. They needed time to pay the money. But we are yet to confirm that the $170million has been repatriated."
A mail sent by our correspondent to the Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Pierre Helg, came with the auto reply, 'Thank you for your message. I will be back at the office on November 7, 2005 and won't read it before."
The Abacha funds had been frozen in Swiss banks since 1999. The Swiss Federal Court in Lausanne approved the return last February, when it rejected an appeal by the family.
The Swiss government had said it wanted the World Bank to guarantee that the money would go towards development projects in areas such as health, education and infrastructure.
The Nigeria government, the Swiss government and the World Bank had on Tuesday, September 27, 2005 signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the repatriation of the $290million Abacha loot kept by Swiss banks.
As part of the deal, the Nigeria and the World Bank agreed to proceed with a Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review.
This review, to be jointly conducted by Nigeria and the World Bank, aims to support the Government's efforts at reforming and strengthening its expenditure system and ensure that it reflects its poverty reduction program.
The PEMFAR will, among other things, help the Nigerian Government ensure that additional resources, including these and other repatriated funds, are channeled to support key sectors, such as education, health, HIV/AIDS and basic infrastructure.
The PUNCH, Friday, November 04, 2005