Swiss need proof of 'stolen' dollars

2001-06-04 22:24

Abuja, Nigeria - Switzerland needs more proof from Nigeria that millions of dollars in Swiss bank accounts were transferred there illegally before it can act, Economy Minister Pascal Couchepin said on Monday.

The visiting minister also told Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo that "more (economic) reforms" were needed to interest Swiss investors.

Couchepin, leading a 25-strong delegation of Swiss investment agencies and business leaders, said it had been "easy" for the country to freeze accounts linked directly to the military dictator Sani Abacha, who died in 1998.

But more proof was needed for Switzerland to be able to act on other accounts, the minister said.

Speaking to reporters after meeting the Nigerian president, Couchepin said he had explained Switzerland's position.

"It was easy (previously) because the account was under the name of the former dictator.

"Now it is a little more complicated because the accounts are under other names ... So you need proof that this money was looted," he said.

Swiss authorities last year froze accounts, worth more than 650 million dollars, linked to the Abacha regime which ran Nigeria from November 1993 to June 1998 and returned 108.2 million dollars to Nigeria.

Besides Switzerland, money linked to the Abacha regime is also being traced in Luxembourg, Lichtenstein and Britain.

Britain in May said it will help Nigerian officials trace hundreds of millions of dollars allegedly looted by the Abacha regime.

British officials had insisted they needed more detailed information about the allegations before they could allow accounts to be frozen.

Couchepin said that Obasanjo had "repeated that he was thankful to Switzerland for the way we have addressed this problem ... and I expressed the will of our government and all political systems in Switzerland to implement our roles."

However, he said more economic reforms would be needed before Swiss investors would be interested in Africa's most populous country.

"To get more, you must give more and to give more, it means more reforms," he said.

Obasanjo did not speak to the press after the meeting but in a statement his office said the president had assured Couchepin that Nigeria would "continue to honour all her obligations ... especially regarding payment of her debts".

The statement said Obasanjo had "also expressed Nigeria's appreciation for the European country's co-operation in the drive to locate and recover all looted funds stashed in that country."

Couchepin and Obasanjo said they had discussed the economic reforms needed to attract investors to the country.

- SAPA