President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday in Abuja urged the World Bank to do
all within its powers to facilitate the speedy repatriation to Nigeria of
stolen funds still being held by Swiss authorities.
Speaking at a meeting with the visiting Managing Director of the World
Bank, Ms. Sri Mulyani Indrawati, President Buhari said that the
repatriation of the additional $320 million US dollars in Switzerland,
which has been identified as illegally taken from Nigeria under the Abacha
administration, will help to ease the current economic hardship facing the
country.
The President assured Ms Indrawati that his administration was taking
appropriate steps to ensure that public funds are no longer stolen or
misappropriated by government officials.
荘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.
“Three hundred and twenty million dollars is a lot of money and we will
not allow it to be misappropriated or diverted,鋳 President Buhari told
Ms. Indrawati.
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 the Nigerian people in an efficient
and accountable way, guaranteed by the monitoring of the World Bank.
President Buhari also assured the World Bank Managing Director that his
administration will honour all agreements with the Bank that will help to
stimulate Nigeria’s economy and reduce the level of poverty in the
country.
He said that Nigeria will welcome greater international assistance for the
rehabilitation of damaged homes, schools, health facilities and other
infrastructure in the North Eastern states affected by the Boko Haram
insurgency.
Ms. Indrawati told President Buhari that the World Bank was ready to use
its knowledge, expertise and resources to help Nigeria achieve faster
growth and development.
荘We will strongly support you to create jobs and ensure prosperity in
Nigeria,鋳 the World Bank Managing Director assured President Buhari.
She also expressed the World Bank’s full support for the war against
corruption being waged by the Buhari Administration.