Switzerland to return more Abacha loot worth $300 million to Nigeria

Late General Sani Abacha

The government of Switzerland is prepared to transfer to the Nigerian government, another $300 million recovered from the family of former military ruler, Sani Abacha, foreign minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, announced Monday. The money is part of an estimated $5 billion stolen and stashed in foreign accounts by the late dictator. Nigeria has in the last 10 years received over $1 billion from the Swiss and American governments, but there are growing concerns past administrations misused the huge sum.
The transfer will be carried out under the supervision of the World Bank, ending 16 years of court wrangling. Abacha, who ruled Nigeria for five years after a 1993 coup, is believed to have stolen $4.3bn while in office, placing him among the ranks of Congo’s Mobutu Sese Seko as one of Africa’s most avaricious kleptocrats.
Following his death from a sudden heart attack in 1998, the Nigerian government asked Switzerland to help it recover $2.2bn that he was said to have stashed in European bank accounts. The tax haven was forced to relax banking secrecy regulations after some landmark rulings.
The money had been placed in several accounts abroad that were controlled by the Abacha family, which is considered a criminal organisation, the prosecutor’s office in the Swiss capital, Geneva, said on Tuesday. It was seized in 2006 in Luxembourg following a request from Swiss authorities. The decision to return it to Nigeria follows a deal struck last July between the west Africa country’s government and the Abacha family. Under the agreement, the funds will be confiscated and sent back to Nigeria, while the government will drop its case against the deceased dictator’s son Abba Abacha, The Guardian reports
The greed of Abacha appalled even Nigerians used to plundering on a grand scale. After his death aged 54, his wife Maryam was caught trying to flee the country with 38 suitcases stuffed with cash. The $5m Peace Foundation set up by the family to sell “Abacha-themed” televisions, sandals, rice and soap later collapsed.