Tag Archives: loots

Lanre Shadiya: What Should We Do With The Recovered Loot?

Posted on by
Reply

I was thrilled when I saw the publication made by the Buhari administration on the recovered funds. It is about the first time such will be made in a very long while in this country.

There is no doubt that any sane mind and intellectually whole being will marvel and ponder at the outrageous figures in that announcement. To imagine that such whooping amount of monies were held up in the hands of some individuals has not really settled in and honestly I doubt it if I will totally absorb such a fantastically shocking revelation. To imagine that more will still be recovered is too complex for my senses to accept.

Having recovered such funds, the next question is how the monies will be utilized. There are many assumptions on how President Buhari will disburse these monies. Unfortunately, the tight lips approach of the administration on most matters has not helped the citizenry understand its policy implementation and actions as would have been desired.

Despite this vague knowledge on the use of the funds I have come across more people suggesting that the monies will be spent to fulfill the school feeding campaign promise made during the last election. I honestly wish, hope and pray that this (or any of such) is not true.

I need to make some clarifications here. Feeding school pupils is not a bad thing to do. We had same in Nigeria some 30+ years ago and those who benefitted from such programme will confess that it did make life worth living in school. There are countries that still do this today. It is a laudable programme for any government that chooses to implement it. What makes the case different in Nigeria? We are at a point in this country where our future has never been is a more bleak state. Gone are the days that “money is not our problem, our problem is how to spend it” Today, how to generate money, account for it and spend it judiciously are not just problems for us but also an epidemic.

While the APC government will be scoring a point by using the funds to feed pupils, it will be an extremely cheap point in the wake of what we know of our economy today. A quick look at the total asset recovered so far indicate that the government has enough funds to build a new refinery from scratch. Yes, a brand new refinery! It will not only be foolish of the government to choose to buy food with such funds rather than build a refinery, it will also be criminal!

Irrespective of the number of children that are fed today, the ultimate hope of their parents and that of the nation too, is that they grow into capable, hardworking and responsible adults who would go out to earn a living for themselves, their family and keep the nation growing. This cannot be achieved by buying them lunch or breakfast. It can only be achieved if government puts in place mechanisms that will sustain their dreams in future. To use these funds to provide them meals today is to mortgage their future for a bowl of today’s porridge. It is not worth it. With the same tenacity demonstrated in the recovery of these loots, this government should show the same in the disbursement and utilisation of the funds for the collective benefit of the Nigerian State.

Follow me @lanreshadiya

Why Buhari Is Yet To Disclose Recovered Loots- Aide

Posted on by
1

The presidency has said monies recovered from corrupt government officials and their accomplices cannot be made public now because they are to be used as evidence against the looters during prosecution.

Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media to the President, Malam Garba Shehu, who disclosed this to journalists in Abuja at the weekend said the recovered funds, which he noted was running into billions of naira, have been kept in a special account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Shehu said the delay in making public what has been recovered was engendered by the need to ensure that those who stole public funds are made to face the wrath of the law.

His words: “On the issue of how much has been returned, let me state that the money so far retrieved is money to be used as evidence in court, and this is in line with the position of President Muhammadu Buhari who said two things; we will recover and we will prosecute. So as it is now, you don’t go and bring out all these millions returned. I am aware that there is an account in the CBN where some of these funds are being kept, but they are evidences for a judge to see, they are not for public display. I think that is the challenge we have at the moment.”

Assuring Nigerians yearning for employment opportunities that the good times are around the corner with the passage of the budget, Shehu said Buhari-led administration was living up to its campaign promises to Nigerians.

He disclosed that Vice President Yemi Osibajo would soon begin a town hall meeting which would accord him the opportunity to educate Nigerians on the policies of the current administration. “I want to congratulate Nigerians for supporting the administration and especially, during the period most people consider to be a difficult one. A lot of people had expected jobs by way of key appointments in boards, ministries and the parastatals and so on, that have been held back by the fact that the president has promised a major restructuring of the executive arm of the government, including the reduction of ministries from 42 to about 24. That will not go without concomitant challenges on the existing parastatals and agencies of government, which obviously have to be modified to fit into the existing ministerial structure.

“Also, I congratulate Nigerians on the achievements the President has recorded fighting Boko Haram terrorism. The military has said its technical victory. I think that as citizens of this country, we must be able to say something and defend that, this is well beyond technical victory; no city in the country is under curfew now, all military roadblocks have been removed except when they are necessitated by a crime situation and people are freely moving, and normal life is been restored to the Northeast geo- political zone.”

Credit: Guardian

Buhari Reveals Those Frustrating Efforts To Recover Loots, Stolen Assets

Posted on by
1

President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, descended on the judiciary, saying the overall levels of judicial service delivery in the county still leave much to be desired.

President Buhari said he was perturbed that more than ever before, “allegations of judicial corruption have become more strident and frequent.”

Flagging-off the 2015 All Nigeria Judges’ Conference  in Abuja,  yesterday, Buhari, who was represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, accused corrupt lawyers and judges of sabotaging his efforts to recover stolen assets.

He said: “Further on point of negative perception, there is both local and international dissatisfaction with the long delays in the trial process. In the past few years, this has become especially so for high-profile cases of corruption, especially where they involve serving or former political office holders.

“As my lords are undoubtedly aware, corruption transfers from public coffers to private pockets, resources required to deliver social and economic justice.

“Government’s attempts to recover such assets in accordance with the law are often faced with dilatory tactics by lawyers sometimes with the apparent collusion of judges.

“These tactics are often not directed at reaching any conclusion or affirming innocence or guilt, but at stalling trials indefinitely, thus denying the state and the accused person the opportunity of a judicial verdict. I wish to echo the sentiments of the vast majority of Nigerians in saying that we cannot afford to continue on this path.”

Credit: Vanguard

Buhari Should Invite Looters For Talks So They Can Return The Loot – Cardinal Okogie

Posted on by
Reply

Former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, advised President Muhammadu Buhari, to invite suspected looters of the country’s treasury for talks.

He said that since the President is working to retrieve looted funds, he advised the president that it would be easier if looters were allowed to return their loot without castigating them publicly.
Okogie, said:

“I agree with the National Peace Committee that the President should tread softly and should set criteria that he is going to use. Corruption is endemic in Nigeria. That is why they are asking for caution: ‘Look at it properly,’” he said.

The cleric urged President Buhari to invite those suspected to have looted government treasury “to speak to their conscience.”
He said that it would be difficult for the government to retrieve the loot as the suspects would use their financial resources to create legal hurdles for their prosecutors.

Okogie said:

“People like that, when they go to court, they don’t look right and left before they do things. If I have a man like that and I know he has the money, I will weigh the options; ‘will it profit the nation if I take this man to court. If I take him to court, he is going to get a lawyer. The lawyer will be employed with part of the money I am looking for.

“The lawyer will now start to ask for adjournments and all what not. I may not get this money until after four years. And the judge too, in the mean time, is getting (part of the loot); you will not know. He won’t just adjourn anyhow.

“The lawyer will invite his brother (the judge) to come and get part of the cake until half of it will be gone. We have to look at the issue from that angle. And you may end up getting nothing.”

When asked if such would be possible in a sanitised judiciary, he asked, “Is it sanitised?”
He said these are the areas the President ought to have started his anti-graft war by “sanitising and purifying” the judiciary first. “At least, you will know that three-quarters of the place is tight, and then you can start (the probe),” he added.
He further said that parents were no more disciplined as like in the old days.
He said:

“These days, they don’t care anymore. That is not right; that is not how they were brought up.”

“Look at the probe that is going on now, for example; how can one person manage to get (steal) one-point-something billion; not even million but billion, and very soon you will hear of trillions? Where did he get it from? That is how it is going on, and he is from a family.

“And if his conscience worried him, he will run to his pastor to say ‘I want to pay tithe-; this is my tithe.’ The pastor collects the tithe. Seeing that it is huge money, the pastor will ask him, ‘what can I do for you?’ ”

$370 Million Abacha Loot Discovered In Luxembourg

Posted on by
14

Switzerland Ambassador to Nigeria, Hans Rodulf Hodel, has revealed that $370 million loot belonging to the former Military Head of State, late Sani Abacha has been discovered in Luxembourg.

Hodel stated that Switzerland would be willing to assist Nigeria in reclaiming the money, once a formal request is made by the country’s authorities.

The ambassador made the disclosure on Monday, April 27, when he paid a congratulatory visit to Nigeria’s president-elect, General Mohammadu Buhari in Abuja, where he stated that the new monetary policies of Switzerland would discourage corrupt foreigners from dumping stolen funds in the country.

He said: “This is a long standing issue. Our laws are there to help all countries which are fighting corruption. We will help this government. If you remember, many years ago we gave back the Abacha money to Nigeria. The situation in Switzerland has changed. The policy is no longer the same. In the past, people came to deposit money in Switzerland without too much controversy.”

“Now, it is not possible to deposit money in Switzerland because of legal origin. Before the bank has to prove that the money is illegal. But now, before you deposit money in Swiss bank, you have to prove that you have earned that money legally.

“If you are a wealthy businessman, you have money in billions legally, but if, for example as a Journalist, you come to Switzerland with two million dollars and say you earned it because you did a very good job, nobody will believe you.

“There was another request by Nigeria to the Swiss authority to look for Abacha money and some amount, 370 million dollars, has been found in an account, but in Luxembourg. That is now between the Abacha family and the government. They have tried to find a deal so that this money can also come back.”

“The Swiss government is not involved. The Nigerian government has asked for legal assistance. When the government makes a request to my government, we work together on it. But this case is different. That is the Abacha family directly with the Nigerian government finding a deal.”

“So, the Swiss government is not involved and the money is in Luxembourg. They have asked for legal assistance and we have provided the with this information. If is not a classical case and we would have preferred a classical case where we can give the money back and make sure that if is used in the interest of the people. Now it is up to the Nigerian government.”

Source – ynaija.com