The returned funds should help improve the lives of Nigeria’s poorest.
Keystone/AP Photo/David Guttenfelder
Representatives from Switzerland, Nigeria and the World Bank have signed an agreement outlining how the Swiss will return funds embezzled by former Nigerian leader Sani Abacha.
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The three parties signed the deal at the Global Forum on Asset Recovery in Washington on Monday. It outlines the terms of the restitution of some $321 million (CHF316 million) – which Switzerland had confiscated from Nigeria and has since been frozen.
While Abacha was in power from 1994-1998, his clan is thought to have diverted about $5 billion from the Nigerian treasury. Much of it ended up abroad, including in Switzerland.
“The agreement stipulates that the restitution of funds will take place within the framework of a project supported and overseen by the World Bank,” announced the Swiss authorities in a media releaseExternal link. The project is aimed at boosting social security for the poorest sections of the Nigerian population.
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