General

FG pleads with W/Bank on $320m loot

President Muhammadu Buhari with the MD/CEO World Bank Group, Ms. Sri Mulyani at the State House in Abuja yesterday

President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the World Bank to do all within its powers to facilitate the speedy repatriation of stolen funds being held by Swiss authorities.  
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba  Shehu, quoted Buhari as making the call at the State House in Abuja yesterday during a meeting with the visiting Managing Director of the World Bank, Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

The president noted that the repatriation  of the additional $320 million in Switzerland identified as illegally taken from Nigeria under the administration of late former Head of State, Sani Abacha would help to ease the current economic hardship facing the nation.
Buhari assured Indrawati that his administration was taking appropriate steps to ensure that public funds are no longer stolen or misappropriated by government officials.
 “We need the support of the World Bank for the repatriation of the funds.
We are as concerned as the World Bank about accountability. If such repatriated funds have been misapplied in the past, I assure you that the same will not happen with us. $320m is a lot of money and we will not allow it to be misappropriated or diverted,”   Buhari said.
According to Shehu, one of the conditions given by the Swiss authorities for the repatriation of the funds is that it should be expended on the implementation of social programmes for the benefit of Nigerians.
Indrawati told Buhari that the World Bank was ready to use its knowledge, expertise and resources to help Nigeria achieve faster growth and development.
 

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