The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) on Tuesday said Nigeria will receive the sum of $321m stolen by the family of late Head of State, General Sani Abacha following the signing of a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Switzerland and the World Bank.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the AGF on Media and Publicity, Salihu Othman Isah, from the United States of America said the signing on December 4, 2017 was in consonance with Switzerland’s policy of returning illegally acquired assets.
Isah said the modalities for the return of the stolen funds are set out in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that was signed by the three parties at the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) currently ongoing in the United States.
The AGF spokesman said, “The MOU stipulates that the restitution of funds will take place within the framework of a project known as the National Social Investment Program that will strengthen social security for the poor in Nigeria’.
“The MOU also regulates the disbursement of restituted funds in tranches and sets out concrete measures to be taken in the event of misuse or corruption.
“The chosen solution for restitution is being undertaken by the three contracting parties as a partnership, in line with the objectives of Switzerland’s strategy to freeze, confiscate and return the illicitly acquired assets of politically exposed persons (asset recovery) which is based on the principles of transparency and accountability, allows the involvement of civil society in the monitoring of the restitution process”, he said in the statement.
Isah added that the return of the funds makes a concrete contribution to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and can set a good example internationally for future restitution cases.
He recalled that the assets, which were initially frozen in Luxembourg, were repatriated and confiscated by Switzerland as part of criminal proceedings brought by the public prosecutor’s office of Geneva against Abba Abacha in December, 2014.
According to him, the signing of the MoU gives Nigeria visibility and will set precedence on the need for transparent management of returned assets internationally.
The GFAR brought together experts from the field of asset recovery to strengthen international cooperation in this area.
Isah noted that Nigeria will use the opportunity of the GFAR meeting to negotiate the return of other assets and also engage in bilateral meetings with several other countries.
The statement said the AGF signed the MoU on behalf of Nigeria while Ambassador Roberto Balzaretti, the Director of the Directorate of International Law who doubles as Head of the Swiss delegation to the GFAR signed on behalf of the government of Switzerland while the Country Director of the World Bank office in Abuja, Mr. Rachid Benmessaoud signed on behalf the World Bank.