Recovered loot: Nigerians attack Buhari, want names published
- Some Nigerians are insisting the names of those who returned their loot must be published
- They said President Muhammadu Buhari has to fulfil his promise of naming those who stole from the country’s treasury
- Femi Falana said the looters list released was not correct as the amount the government said it had recovered was far less than the true amount
- The failure of the president to mention the names of the country’s treasury looters showed he had succumbed to pressure from the looters, the Ijaw National Congress said
The failure of the federal government to release the name of looters of Nigeria’s treasury has generated widespread reactions from some prominent Nigerians.
Many are insisting that the names of those who returned their loot must be published to make the loot recovery process more transparent, The Punch reports.
Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, stated that the amount listed by the government, that it had recovered from looters are not accurate as it was far less.
He said: “Let me tell you this: That list is not correct. I know that the EFCC has recovered about $3.1bn. I think this is just the report from a department; it is not a comprehensive one.
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“The figure announced has not taken cognizance of the totality of the fund that has been recovered by all the anti-graft agencies. From the information at my disposal, the figure announced by the information minister is a fraction of what the EFCC has recovered and deposited in the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
According to him, the federal government might not want to name looters yet in order not to discourage more looters from returning stolen funds in their possession.
The Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, also said the amount released as recovered loot was less than the total amount of figures bandied about by the federal government and its agencies since the anti-corruption campaign began.
The publicity secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin said: “As far as we are concerned, there is nothing new on the list shown to Nigerians. Anybody can just put figures together. Where are the particulars of the recovery? From who were they (the loot) recovered?
“We need the particulars; from who were the monies recovered? If they don’t do that, then, they are just wasting our time; they are just making a mockery of the whole process. They talked about naming and shaming, let them release the names. As it is now, there is no revelation yet before Nigerians.”
READ ALSO: Breaking: FG releases interim report on financial, assets recoveries
The president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Augustine Alegeh (SAN), said it was important for President Muhammadu Buhari to fulfill his promise by releasing the names of looters for citizens to gain closure.
He said: “It is also important that we know the quantum of recoveries made from various persons so that it will be something that is known to every Nigerian and there would be no challenge. How did you arrive at the figures that are out there if you don’t put not just names but reasons (to the recovered loots)?
“Tomorrow, you could hear that (after) all the amounts that Mr. ‘A’ or Mr. ‘B’ looted, nothing was done. You could also start to hear that the loot recovery was only targeted at those who weren’t supporting the president.”
The Ijaw National Congress said Buhari’s failure to mention the names of the country’s treasury looters was an indication that he had succumbed to pressure from the looters.
Buhari had on May 13, in an interview promised to disclose to Nigerians the amount his government had so far recovered from those who looted the nation’s treasury and their names on May 29.
On the said day, being Democracy Day, Buhari disappointed Nigerians when he failed to reveal the list as promised.
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He however, promised that Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information would publish the details.
In fulfillment of the promise to make public the details of recovered loot on his first anniversary in office, the federal government released the first set of information cash recoveries totaling N78,325,354,631.82; $185,119,584.61; £3,508,355.46 and €11, 250, from May 29, 2015 to May 25, 2016.
Source: Legit.ng
