The Chairman of the Civil Society Network Against Corruption, Olanrewaju Suraj, said this during a seminar to commemorate the 2016 International Anti-Corruption Day in Abuja on Friday.
The event was jointly organised by Nigerian anti-corruption agencies, the European Union, the United States and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and had in attendance senior diplomats and politicians.
It will be recalled that the Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Eric Mayoraz, said in July that his country would return $321m out of the Abacha loot to Nigeria.
However, Suraj, who was a member of a panel of discussants, said the original figure that was meant to be returned to Nigeria was about $400million.
He said the Nigerian Government had secretly agreed to forfeit $79m as part of negotiations.
Suraj said this was disgraceful as the Swiss Government was meant to pay Nigeria an interest instead of dictating the terms of agreement.
He said, “Unfortunately, the government goes to beg countries to get our money back rather than making demands, we appeal for the money and beg them to return it. We are fed with half information such that we even assume that we actually recover the amount stolen.
“I had a very funny experience and it is still ongoing. The $321m that the Swiss Government is meant to return to Nigeria, we discovered three weeks ago that the original money was about $400m. The legal process in Switzerland actually charged the Nigerian Government about $79m and that is why we are receiving $321m.
“The $321m is now to be returned to Nigeria with the condition that the World Bank will monitor how the funds will be spent. I cannot imagine anything more insulting.”
No comments:
Post a Comment