The Federal Government is set to commence a voluntary offshore voluntary asset repatriation scheme in furtherance of its current efforts to curb corruption and boost revenue generation potentials of the country.
Already, arrangements are being made by government to partner foreign experts, comprising legal practitioners and others in Switzerland who will serve as consultants in the pilot scheme scheduled to kick off in the country.
The Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, gave this hint to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of a meeting held at the Nigerian Embassy in Bern, Switzerland.
He explained that under the scheme, experts would collaborate with the Swiss Government to uncover funds that had not been identified under current investigations for the purposes of repatriating to the Nigerian government.
The minister pointed out that Switzerland was chosen for the pilot scheme given the existing partnership on asset repatriation between both countries, adding that the success of the pilot scheme will determine its extension to other countries.
Malami also confirmed that the Federal Government was involved in other international repatriation processes, citing the recent tripartite meeting held in the UK between Nigeria, US and the State of Jersey on asset recovery as indications to the effect
He clarified further: “In a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Repatriation, signed between Nigeria and Switzerland, there are check mechanisms embedded in the agreement.
“These checks and balances will see to the effective and transparent utilisation of the monies repatriated.
“These include monitoring by the World Bank, the participation of the Swiss civil society and agreement of targeted projects, especially those related to social investments such as school feeding, entrepreneurial and skill acquisition programmes of the Federal Government”, the minister added.
He restated the government’s commitment to ensure the sustainability of the current anti-graft war through legislation, enforcement and recovery strategies, adding that the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and electronic salary payment scheme were among measures being applied to plugging leakages in the nation’s public finance system.
It would be recalled that over the past three years, the present administration had succeeded in repatriating about $322 million looted funds, particularly late Abacha’s loot, from Switzerland.
The proposed scheme is coming barely six days to the expiration of the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme’s (VAIDS’) deadline extended to June 30 from the earlier March 31 deadline set by government for compliance
