Buhari takes aim at HSBC

The Office of the Presidency has asked global banking giant HSBC to return all of Nigeria's looted funds it holds. This after HSBC recently declared that President Muhammadu Buhari's second term in office would stunt Nigeria's economy. ‘The Presidency wishes to make clear to all Nigerians, and particularly the global banking giant HSBC … that what killed Nigeria's economy in the past was the unbridled looting of state resources by leaders, the type which was actively supported by HSBC,’ the Presidency said in a statement. The Guardian reports that it accused HSBC of ‘soiling its hands with millions of US dollars yet-to-be-recovered (Sani) Abacha loot' and said it has no right 'to project that a second term for Mr Buhari raises the risk of limited economic progress and further fiscal deterioration’. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama has criticised Switzerland for its role in keeping the infamous Abacha stash and making the process of repatriation of the assets strenuous. The funds were believed to have been stolen and stashed in countries and tax havens around the world by the late Nigerian ruler. Switzerland recently agreed to repatriate $350m, but Onyeama said he was angered by the funds still held by ‘institutions in Switzerland and lawyers’.

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