Switzerland is ready to assist
Nigeria in the ongoing investigations into the alleged more than 6.8 billion
dollars (N1.1 trillion) fraudulent oil deals involving the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and Swiss oil trading companies.
Mr. Hans-Rudolf Hodel, the country’s
ambassador to Nigeria, made the pledge in Abuja yesterday.
Hodel told reporters that though no
formal request for assistance had been made to his government on the issue by
any representative of the Nigerian government, both countries had an existing
mutual legal assistance.
This, he said, entails providing
banking information and freezing of bank accounts, “if such accounts are
identified in the criminal proceedings.”
Hodel said that the report issued by
the Swiss-based NGO, Berne Declaration, which highlighted the transactions
between NNPC and Swiss companies, did not represent the official position of
the Swiss government.
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