A FRESH window may soon open for nations like Nigeria to recover more of her stolen money still domiciled in bank vaults in Switzerland.
This hope is coming as Europe plans to remove the policy of secrecy in banks. A recent publication by the Washington Post disclosed that the euro crisis is forcing states in Europe to search for new sources of money to implement their budget and to cater for the greater number of people.
It then said in this regard Switzerland's strict banking secrecy is increasingly under assault from countries such as Germany and Britain as never before.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Amb. Olugbenga Ashiru, has consistently maintained that economic diplomacy and foreign investment drive is the bedrock of the country's foreign policy. But despite efforts to retrieve the loots in Swiss banks especially the ones taken away during the years of the country's former Head of State, the late Gen. Sani Abacha, diplomatic watchers think success has been below par and lacking in consistency and transparent tracking.
Nigeria succeeded in getting back through the assistance of the Swiss government about $500 million of the $2 billion reportedly starched away by the Abacha family.
The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Dr. Bright Okogu, told The Guardian in this regard that the repatriated $500 million Abacha loot from Switzerland had been "well applied."
Okogu who at the time (2005) was a Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, recalled that the Swiss government even appointed the World Bank and some non-governmental organisations to monitor the management of the looted funds.
Desirable as the need to remove Swiss bank's protection by some of the strictest secrecy laws is, the question of how to penetrate the financial system of the country remains.
Worried about the increasing strain to relations between Nigeria and Switzerland on account of the stolen money in the latter's bank vaults, the Federal Government signed in 2010 a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Switzerland on broader partnership beyond the once prevailing on the issue of irregular migration.
Switzerland then pledged to ensure that its financial centre is not continually used as a safe haven for illicitly acquired assets. It also offered the Federal Government "continued cooperation for any ongoing cases."
That same year, Abba Abacha, one of the sons of Gen. Sani Abacha, appeared before a court in Geneva, Switzerland, to defend an earlier appeal against his conviction for plundering state resources and involvement in criminal organisations. His appearance was in connection with the $2.2 billion his father is believed to have siphoned from Nigerian coffers from 1993 to 1998.
In November, of the preceding year (2011), Abba was ordered to repay $350 million by a Swiss court. The court said the money was being held by criminal organisations and was collected with international assistance from Luxembourg and the Bahamas.
In September 2005, the Federal Government and the Swiss government signed an agreement in Washington DC at the World Bank headquarters, for the repatriation of $458 million in stolen loot stashed by late Abacha and his family in several banks in the European country. This represented about 90.7 per cent of the total $505 million taken illegally out of the country to Switzerland.
In a response to The Guardian's enquiry in Abuja following the understanding on loot recovery, a high level official of the Swiss embassy said: "As a major international financial centre, Switzerland has a fundamental interest in ensuring that illicitly acquired assets do not find a safe haven in its banks. It has been the first country to start returning assets stolen by the Abacha clan to Nigeria and has returned by far the highest amount: over $700 million. Switzerland remains ready to examine and respond to any possible future Nigerian request for mutual legal assistance. I would say the recovery of stolen funds is still on."
He also said of the understanding with Nigeria: "The existing MoU is for the good of Nigeria. I cannot speak for others. The blockage of accounts and confiscation of assets are usually dealt with in the framework of legal assistance in criminal matters between countries."
On the unseen financial implications for Switzerland in continuing to render the expected assistance to Nigeria in this regard, the official said: "The partnership (earlier referred to) is focused on both a dialogue between the partners and filling it with concrete activities and projects in the interest of both countries. In order to identify potential activities and projects, we want to discuss together current needs and gaps."
Regarding how Nigeria has utilised the earlier recovered money from Switzerland, Okogwu said: " I was not the Director-General of Budget Office of the Federation then, I functioned in another capacity. But I remember we attended meetings with the Swiss government officials and signed papers on the administration of the looted funds. They even appointed the World Bank and other agencies to monitor the implementation by the agencies of government."
Also commenting on what Nigeria could do with the Swiss government, the Swiss Secretary of State, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Jean-Daniel Gerber, said: "Repatriating illegally acquired funds, such as the Abacha funds in the case of Nigeria, is an important tool in the fight against corruption and at the same time a significant potential source for development financing."
