Abacha: Supreme Court struck out family appeal to unfreeze foreign account 

The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed to unfreeze the foreign accounts of late Head of State, General Sani Abacha held in the UK, Switzerland, Jersey, Liechenstein and Luxembourg.

The family of late Abacha, had prayed the apex court for an order so unfreeze some of the bank accounts of the late dictator and other members of the family.

However, the court said it was too late for the family to query the decision taken by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 1999.

Justice Amina Augie, who read the lead judgment prepared by Justice C.C. Nweze, said: “According to the admitted evidence, I have no limitations in affirming the concurrent decisions of the lower courts and the appeal is hereby dismissed.”

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Other members of the Supreme Court’s five-man panel that heard the appeal, Justices Olukayode Ariwoola, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Augie and Paul Galumje, all agreed with the lead judgment as written by Justice Nweze.

The appeal was against the decision of Justice A.M. Liman of the Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna in a Ruling delivered on Oct. 21, 2005 overruling a notice of preliminary objection of the Appellants.

The Swiss government on Feb. 16, 2005, pledged to hand over the sum of 458 million dollars out of the 508 million dollars of the Abacha assets.

The family prayed the lower court to declare the said grant by the government of Switzerland to transfer the family’s cash assets in their companies null and void and contrary to the African and united Nations Charter on Human Rights.

The Abacha family also appealed the decision of the Federal High Court, Kano at the Court of Appeal, Kaduna.

But in its judgment on Dec. 15, 2009, the appellate court upheld the decision of the trail court and dismissed the appeal, a decision he again appealed to the Supreme Court, which the apex court also dismissed.