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Liechtenstein stalling recovery of $250m Abacha’s loot

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AbachaNIGERIA has accused Liechtenstein of using legal challenges as a pretext to cling on to 185 million euros ($250 million) stolen by the late military dictator, General Sani Abacha.

Nigeria has been fighting to recover the money for years, but companies linked to the Abacha family keep going to court to prevent the funds being repatriated, Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said.

A Liechtenstein government spokesman said the country was making efforts to return the money, but a complaint in the European Court of Human Rights brought by companies affected was still pending.

“We feel that the Liechtenstein people have been stalling for 14 years,” Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters.

“They are just looking for excuses and I think this is where international civil society should mount pressure on these people,” she added.

A Liechtenstein court ordered the Abacha money confiscated in 2012, but companies linked to his family had mounted a challenge in court.

 

“We’re asking: why have they been keeping our money all this time? Fronting companies for Abacha family are trying to delay things and Liechtenstein are hiding behind that,” Okonjo-Iweala said.

The Leichtenstein spokesman said one of the reasons the cases had dragged for so long was that Nigeria refused the examination of witnesses in its courts, as part of the procedure.

“We are looking at the possibility of returning money ahead of schedule whilst still covering liability risks,” he said.

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