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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