The Presidency on Saturday challenged a multinational banking and financial services company, HSBC, to return the stolen funds it allegedly helped the late Head of State, Sani Abacha; a serving senator and other Nigerians to launder.
It said instead of engaging in doomsday prophecy, the financial institution should return Nigeria’s stolen assets.
A statement by the Special Senior Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, stated that HSBC allegedly laundered over $100m for the late Abacha in Jersey, Paris, London and Geneva.
Shehu’s statement was in response to reports by The Economist Intelligence Unit, the research unit of The Economist and HSBC.
The Economist had in the report by the EIU predicted that the Peoples Democratic Party would win the 2019 presidential election.
The prediction also stated that if Buhari wins a second term, the development would stunt the country’s economy.
But Shehu said on Saturday that “the unbridled looting of state resources by leaders” “killed Nigeria’s economy in the past.”
The presidency said a bank that allegedly soiled its hand with huge amount of funds stolen from Nigeria by Abacha and others and yet to be recovered lacked the moral right to predict an economic doom under Buhari’s second term.
