Magu vows to recover stolen assets as FG says $400bn looted from govt treasury
- The federal government has declared that the sum of $400bn has been looted from the government treasury
- Festus Keyamo made this known on Thursday, September 12, at EFCC academy, Abuja
- EFCC acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu, however, said that the commission would ensure all stolen assets are recovered
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said it would recover all assets meant for the development of the country.
This Day reports that the chairman of the commission, Ibrahim Magu, made the pledge following a revelation by the federal government on Thursday, September 12, that the amount of money looted from government treasury through corrupt practices stood at $400 billion.
Legit.ng gathered that Festus Keyamo, the minister of state for Niger Delta affairs, who made the declaration in Abuja, said government arrived at the amount through a research.
The minister, who spoke while addressing 164 officers of the EFCC cadet course 8 currently undergoing orientation and induction at the EFCC academy, said corruption was the bane of the country.
“If we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. Anybody who said corruption is not the bane of Nigeria today is not honest.
“A research conducted sometime ago revealed that the amount of money looted as a result of corruption in Nigeria stands at $400 billion,” he said.
He charged the cadets to take the fight against corruption seriously, bearing in mind the admonition of President Muhammadu Buhari that, “if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.”
Keyamo enjoined the cadets to celebrate their recruitment into the commission at a time when the EFCC truly enjoyed complete independence to execute its mandate.
He blamed interference by previous governments for the slow pace of the fight against corruption in the past as several investigations and prosecution of offenders were frustrated.
Meanwhile Magu declared the commission's resolve to recover the stolen funds at a session between him and the speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and other top executives of the country’s anti-corruption agencies at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.
He said: “I am very committed to the recovery of stolen funds wherever they are located, which should be utilised through budgetary system to remedy the harm the theft has caused.”
Speaking on the recent achievements of the commission in the fight against cyber fraud, especially the outcomes of EFCC’s collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Magu said, “the just concluded ‘Operation Rewired,’ resulted in the recovery of the sum of $169,850 as well as N92 million."
He listed the agencies that benefitted from allocation of recovered assets to include Voice of Nigeria, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, North East Development Commission (NEDC) and National Social Investment Office and Fiscal Responsibility Commission.
Gbajabiamila in his remarks, said the essence of the discussion was to see how public funds and assets recovered could help in relations to budget processes, accountability, transparency and how the country can be developed by putting the funds to better use.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos state on Tuesday, September 10, ordered the permanent forfeiture of the 2,149 pieces of jewellery and a customised gold iPhone, valued at $40m, recovered from the house of the former minister of petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
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Source: Legit.ng
