The recovery of the money had been blocked by legal action brought by companies linked to members of Abacha’s family.
The companies’ complaints were withdrawn following negotiations between the governments of Nigeria and Liechtenstein last month.
Nigeria says it plans to invest the money in a sovereign wealth fund for the benefit of future generations.
Separately, Nigeria agreed on Wednesday to drop charges against Abacha’s son, Mohammed Abacha, who was accused of unlawfully receiving $2.7m of government money from his father.
Liechtenstein is not the only European country to recover Nigerian state funds, with Switzerland so far returning some $700m.
Earlier this year, the US froze some $458m hidden by Abacha in bank accounts in Jersey and France.
Abacha seized power shortly after the 1993 elections were annulled and went on to become one of Nigeria’s most notorious military rulers, accused of stealing billions of dollars from the oil-rich nation.
Source link : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27926100
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Publish date : 2014-06-19 07:00:00
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