Nigeria to get back $290m loot

2005-09-09 16:25

Bern - Officials have told Swiss banks to start returning to Nigeria $290m in funds seized in accounts linked to late dictator Sani Abacha, said a spokesperson on Friday.

"The transfer became possible with the signing of an agreement with the World Bank to monitor Nigeria's use of the funds," said Livio Zanolari of the Swiss justice ministry.

The $290m was to be paid immediately. A second instalment of $170m will be made when assets have been converted to cash, said Zanolari, but he said he did not know how long that would take.

The money has been frozen in Swiss banks since 1999. The Swiss Supreme Court gave a green light for the return last February when it rejected an appeal by the Abacha family.

But the Swiss cabinet said it wanted the World Bank involvement organised first to guarantee the money would go toward development projects in areas such as health, education and infrastructure, as promised by Nigeria.

The agreement with the World Bank has now been signed, Zanolari noted.

Plundering $2.2bn from state

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo accused Switzerland last May of stalling on the return of the funds, but Swiss officials said they were held up only because of the need to work out details with the World Bank.

The Nigerian government accuses Abacha of creating a criminal organisation after his takeover in 1993 and plundering $2.2bn from state funds until his death of an apparent heart attack in 1998.

After he died, Swiss officials blocked about $730m in Swiss accounts linked to Abacha and his associates. About $216m has previously been returned to Nigeria.

Nigeria has been pushing with some success for the return of Abacha's looted funds from other countries, including Britain, Luxembourg, Lichtenstein and Austria.

- AP