Swiss Set to Return $321 Million Sanni Abacha Loot to Nigeria

Sanni Abacha, former Nigeria head of state

On Monday in Zurich, Switzerland, the Swiss government and Nigeria government in a deal signed with the World Bank agreed to return $321 Million in assets seized from the family of former military ruler Sani Abacha to Nigeria.

Nigeria government and Abacha family reached an agreement in 2014 to get back the funds, which had been frozen, in return for dropping a complaint against the former military ruler's son, Abba Abacha.

He was charged by a Swiss court with money-laundering, fraud and forgery in April 2005, after being extradited from Germany, and later spent 561 days in custody.

In 2006, the funds held by Abba was frozen through the order of Luxembourg.

Transparency International, a corruption watchdog, has accused Abacha of stealing up to $5 billion of public money during the five years he ran the oil-rich country, from 1993 until his death in 1998. It was reported that the current government as at that time did not belief that Abacha looted the public fund.

But now Switzerland, Nigeria and the World Bank have agreed the funds will be repatriated via a project supported and overseen by the World Bank, the Swiss government said.

"The project will strengthen social security for the poorest sections of the Nigerian population. The agreement also regulates the disbursement of restituted funds in tranches and sets out concrete measures to be taken in the event of misuse or corruption," it added.

We hope that this fund will benefit Nigerians and will not be diverted into politicians private pockets.

Source(s) Reuters