Looted funds in excess of N200bn forfeited to Nigerian govt – Malami

The Federal Government said on Thursday it has secured final forfeiture in excess of N200 billion from looters of the nation’s treasury.

The Attorney- General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), disclosed this at a special town hall meeting on “Fight Against Corruption,” organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture in Abuja.

Malami, who was represented at the meeting by the Special Adviser to the President on Financial Crimes, Abiodun Ayodeji, said the sum in question was aside other recoveries that were still in the interim.

He said: “We have recovered money in excess of N200 billion in final forfeiture and there are recoveries still in the interim than cannot be dealt with.

“The money we have earned for the federal government through the anti-corruption war is in the excess of N200 billion.

“Notable among the recoveries is the $325 million Abacha loot and $75 million connected to the Malabu oil transaction.’’

“Nigeria has earned in excess of $650 billion from oil in revenue but the bulk of the funds are either stolen or mismanaged.

“NEITI recently said that in the last 10 years, $40 billion was stolen due to oil theft alone.

“These have left us with infrastructure that is grossly inadequate to support modern economy.

Read also: EFCC secured 890 convictions in 10 months —Magu

“It is, therefore, so real that if we do not kill corruption, the menace will kill us. Hence the administration is focusing on war against corruption.’’

According to the AGF, the recovery of the funds was made possible due to the implementation of the Nigeria Anti-Corruption Strategy set up by the ministry and endorsed by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in July 2017.

The chairman of Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Muhammed Isah, who also spoke at the meeting, said the bureau, had from November 2018, till date investigated 160 cases of corruption to the tune of N40 billion.

According to him, out of the 160 cases, 75 had been filed before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for trial.

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