The Ambassador of Switzerland to Nigeria, Mr. Hans Rudolf Hodel, has said that Swiss banks no longer provide a safe haven for illicit funds.Hodel said this after a meeting with Nigeria’s President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, at the Defence House, Abuja, on Monday.The Swiss envoy also said that, to the best of his knowledge, there was currently no looted Nigerian fund in Switzerland.He, however, said he was aware that the Nigerian government and the late Gen. Sani Abacha’s family had been working out modalities for the return of U$370m stashed in a bank account in Luxemburg.According to him, his home government is not directly involved in the negotiation.He explained that he was at the Defence House to congratulate the President-elect and the Nigerian people over the peaceful 2015 elections.The ambassador said, “Investors are looking toward Nigeria and it is a good example Nigeria gave to the world by its peaceful elections.“With this election, Nigeria has become an example not only to Africa but to the whole world on how elections can be conducted.“I think Nigeria can be proud that the image of the country got improved in the last few days and weeks, I am proud to serve in this era.”On anti-graft war, Hodel said, “We will help this government. If you remember, many years ago we gave back the Abacha money to Nigeria.“The situation in Switzerland has changed. The policy is no longer the same. In the past, people came to deposit money in Switzerland without too much controversy.“Now, it is not possible to deposit money in Switzerland because of legal origin. Before, the bank had to prove that the money was illegal. But now, before you deposit money in Swiss bank, you have to prove that you have earned that money legally.“If you are a wealthy businessman, you can have money in billions legally, but if, for example, as a journalist, you come to Switzerland with $2m and say you earned it because you did a very good job, nobody will believe you.”The envoy said Nigeria had requested for assistance in tracing funds looted by the Abacha regime and that a search had led to the discovery of $370m in an account in Luxembourg.He said, “There was another request by Nigeria to the Swiss authority to look for Abacha money and some amount has been found in an account, not in Switzerland but in Luxembourg, that is now between the Abacha family and the (Nigerian) government.“They have tried to strike a deal so that this money can also come back.”Asked how much was involved, he said, “The recent one is $370m.”In a related development, the new Cuban Ambassador to Nigeria, Carlos Trejo Sosa, has described Nigeria as the ancestral home of many Cubans.He said, “Nigeria is very dear to the heart of Cuba because Nigerians are in the root of Cuban nation. Morethan 80 per cent of people who came to Cuba in the 19th century from Africa came from Nigeria, which means the blood running in the vein of the Cuban nation is partially Nigerian blood.“So, our coming here means we have come to the home of our forefather.”He expressed confidence that Cuban’s collaboration with African countries would be taken to greater heights, noting that over 6,000 Cuban doctors are currently working across Africa with about 50,000 others working in Latin America.Cuba, he said, was willing to share its experiences in all spheres of human endeavour with Nigeria.In response to the Cuban ambassador, the President-elect said the people of his generation would continue to cherish the spectacular performance of Cuba’s revolutionary leaders such as Che Guevara and Fidel Castro.Buhari told the visiting Cuban ambassador that he admired the unique social structure and system of the state, especially given the rapid development that had been achieved by the Island nation.Buhari also expressed happiness at the restoration of normal ties between Cuba and their erstwhile hostile neighbours – the United States of America.
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