The Guardian (Nigeria)
September 22, 2004

After verifications, the Swiss government has agreed to release to Nigeria about N66.5 billion ($500 million) looted from Nigeria by the government of the late Gen. Sani Abacha.

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, made the disclosure yesterday in Abuja while briefing the joint committees of Finance and Appropriation of the House of Representatives on the performance of 2004 budget and the parameters for that of next year.

The minister added that the Swiss government had verified the criminal origin of the fund and had agreed to return it.

But she said that Nigeria could not have access to the fund until after all the judicial processes were through, which, according to her, would take about two months.

Okonjo-Iweala stressed that some money was also received early in the year from some other countries.

On the performance of the 2004 budget, Okonjo-Iweala said the economic team had been able to reduce the inflation rate, stabilise fairly the exchange rate and increase the foreign reserve to 12.4 billion dollars.

She added that more than N200 billion was released as capital vote with N86 billion of it utilised by the various ministries.

The minister announced that the budget for 2005 would be presented to the National Assembly in early October to allow for its early passage.

Earlier, both committee chairmen, Farouk Lawan, and Gabriel Suswan, said the meeting was called to know whether the economic team was complying with releases and clauses in the Appropriation Act.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo and the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Kayode Naiyeju, also attended the briefing.

The late Gen. Abacha is believed to have embezzled more than N260 billion ($2 billion) in the five years he ruled the country until his death in 1998.

Switzerland has already handed back $200m of the $700m Abacha loot held there.

The Justice Ministry in Bern said recently that not all of the remaining Abacha funds would be transferred to Nigeria.

About $7m, the origin of which is yet to be determined, would remain in the country for the time being, it said.

The Abacha family had in the past tried to get the funds released through Swiss courts, but without success.

The funds were frozen in 1999 at the request of the Nigerian government.

Assets linked to Abacha and his family have also been found in Britain, the Channel Islands, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg.

Nigerian officials, including President Olusegun Obasanjo, have said the funds returned would be used for health, education, roads and other projects “to help rural and poor people.”

Switzerland says its mission in Nigeria will “monitor the use of the Abacha funds in accordance with this assurance.”