The Swiss government has announced that it has returned $723 million of stolen funds seized from the family of the late former head of state, Sani Abacha, to the Nigerian government over the last 10 years.
The amount excludes $321million (about N63.24 billion) which the Swiss authorities recently said it was planning to repatriate to Nigeria.
These details are contained in the agreement signed on March 8, 2016, in Abuja by representatives of the Swiss Federal Council and the Nigerian government.
The agreement, titled “Letter of Intent on the restitution of illegally-acquired assets forfeited in Switzerland,” was signed by Nigeria’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and the Swiss Head of Foreign Affairs Department, Didier Burkhalter.
The document revealed that $321 million acquired illicitly by the Abacha family, was initially deposited in Luxemburg before being confiscated by the Swiss Republic Judiciary and Canton of Geneva following a December 11, 2014 forfeiture order.
The agreement said funds to be returned to Nigeria would contribute to the implementation of social programmes for the benefit of the Nigerian people in “an efficient and accountable way, guaranteed by a monitoring by World Bank.”
Acknowledging the cooperation of Switzerland and Nigeria as an excellent opportunity to fight against corruption at domestic and international levels, the signatories to the agreement recalled the long partnership by their two countries in asset recovery, based on the principles of national interest, trust and mutual respect.
