The Federal Government has set up an account for the stolen funds it recovered in the last one year, TodayNG reports.
The Muhammadu Buhari-led government revealed on Saturday that N78, 325,354,631.82; $185,119,584.61; £3,508,355.46 and €11, 250 had been recovered from alleged looters, an amount which adds up to over N115.7bn using the official exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
According to reports from Today.ng, the funds were said to have been recovered separately by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation; Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission and the Department of State Services.
Speaking on Sunday, the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay, said an account had been set up for the funds.
“An account has been set up for it and at an appropriate time, what is going to be done with the money will be made public. The amount that is available in that account will be announced and what will be done with the money will be publicly announced,” he said.
The committee chairman, however, said the N1.9tn in cash and assets, which had been frozen by the Federal Government, were still under legal contention and thus could not be touched.
He added, “Regarding the funds frozen under the interim forfeiture, the Federal Government can’t touch it for now because certain cases have not been concluded and the forfeiture is interim because technically, the court can order the release to the owners if the occasion demands it but if it goes the other way, there will be a permanent forfeiture order and that is when the properties would accrue to the government and would therefore be used for the benefit of Nigerians.”
Regarding the naming of alleged looters, Sagay said there was no legal impediment in shaming alleged thieves.
The renowned legal practitioner added that the decision not to name looters was more political than legal.
He stated that the decision not to name looters was made in a bid to encourage others, who had stolen, to return money.