FG: $1b worth of stolen public assets recovered under Buhari
The Federal government has reported that about $1b worth of stolen public assets has been recovered since 2015.
Where are the assets?
The information was made public by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who briefed reporters after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday. According to the AGF, the recovered assets have been deployed to various sectors of the Nigerian economy, including the government’s poverty alleviation schemes. He added that part of the decisions at the FEC meeting was the approval of the new Anti-corruption Strategy Document (2022 to 2026), which is aimed at boosting the fight against graft in the country.
How many convictions were made in that period?
The AGF said that more than 3000 convictions have been recorded by the President Buhari administration. While emphasising the significance of the number of convictions made by the current administration, Malami added that previous governments recorded only 109 convictions before 2015.
The AGF also noted the government’s concern over cases of budget padding and added that measures would be explored to address the problem. “Whichever way one looks at it, budget padding is bad, because if you budget N5 billion for roads and N3 billion of that fund is diverted, it means government has lost that money, and it will take a longer period to complete the project. The government is concerned and will do what is necessary to address the issue”, Malami said.
