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Switzerland signs contract with ANEEJ to monitor Abacha’s loot distribution to poor Nigerians

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US uncovers fresh $319m Abacha loot in UK and France
Late General Sani Abacha

A $50,000 contract has been signed between the Switzerland Government and the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice(ANEEJ) for the former to monitor the distribution of Late General Sani Abacha‘s loot to poor Nigerians.

General Abacha’s recovered loot of  $322.5 million is reportedly being distributed to poor Nigerians through the Conditional Cash Transfer programme of the Federal Government.

This was disclosed by the Executive Director, ANEEJ, Rev David Ugolor, in a statement titled, ‘$322.5m Abacha loot: Switzerland signs $50,000 contract with ANEEJ for MANTRA Phase II’.

He said the agreement is coming after a couple of meetings between the swiss government, ANEEJ and other stakeholders.

According to him, this development is to ensure the realization of the tripartite Memorandum of Understanding signed between Nigeria and Switzerland on the side of the inaugural Global Forum on Asset Recovery Summit held in Washington DC in December 2017.

The statement added that the contract for the implementation of MANTRA II was signed by Mr. Holger Tausch, on behalf of the Division Global Institutions, of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; and ANEEJ executive director, for one year beginning November 2021 covering eight per cent of the total monitoring funds for the project.

Part of the statement read, “By virtue of article 13 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption 2003, states parties to the Convention are mandated to involve civil society organizations in the combat of corruption. Combating corruption necessarily includes the involvement of CSOs in the recovery, repatriation, and management of recovered assets.

“In compliance with the above UNCAC regulation, the Federal Government of Nigeria agreed a Terms of Reference with Nigeria Civil Society Organisations for the purpose of monitoring the returned $322.5million Abacha loot states as the Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Government of Nigeria, the World Bank and the Government of Switzerland established a framework for the return of the funds as well as the monitoring mechanism of the funds.

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“ANEEJ in the ToR was saddled with the responsibility of leading Civil Society independent monitoring of the returned assets under the aegis of Network on Asset Recovery.”

The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office under its Anti-Corruption in Nigeria programme in April 2018 provided funding for the ANEEJ-led MANTRA project to carry out end-to-end independent monitoring of the disbursement of the returned loot.

Following the downturn in the global economy occasioned by the covid-19 pandemic, the FCDO stopped funding the project in January 2021.

“ANEEJ and its partners have kept an eye on the disbursement since then until reprieve came their way from the Swiss Government committed to ensuring the successful disbursement.

“Already, ANEEJ has commenced first phase of spot checks and upstream monitoring of the fund’s disbursement to the poor in some selected states across the country. A report is expected before the end of the year 2021,” the statement added.

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