Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has announced that the Federal Government is now developing a framework on how to utilise the $321m stolen funds from Nigeria under the Abacha government which Swiss government has promised to repatriate soon.
Prof. Osinbajo said the framework once finalized will be made available publicly, and it would cover the whole spectrum from the source of the stolen asset to how it would be managed once recovered.
He said “the framework will guarantee that returned assets will be used in the interest of the people of this country.”
Vice President Osinbajo spoke today at the Presidential Villa, Abuja during a meeting with a Swiss delegation led by the country’s Federal Councillor and Head of its Foreign Affairs Department, Mr. Didier Burkhalter and the Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Eric Mayoruz.
Osinbajo added: “we guarantee that recovered assets would be put to uses for which they have been intended.”
The Vice President said the federal government appreciates the Swiss government for its efforts to repatriate Nigeria’s stolen assets, saying: “Swiss has always been at the forefront of returning stolen assets and ensuring that the people of Nigeria get the benefit.”
This was even as the Attorney-General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami, signed an agreement described as a “Letter of Intent” between the Swiss government and the Nigerian government on the restitution of illegally-acquired assets forfeited in Switzerland.
Burkhalter signed the letter for the Swiss government.
Under the agreement, the Swiss government will award to Nigeria $321 million of funds illicitly acquired by the Abacha family, initially deposited in Luxembourg and confiscated by the Judiciary of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, pursuant to a Forfeiture order dated 11th December 2014. [myad]
