According to the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, 55 privileged Nigerians stole 1.34 trillion naira from the public treasury from 2006 to 2013, a period spanning the three Peoples Democratic Party, PDP administrations of Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
Mohammed who addressed a press conference on the matter in Abuja on Monday said that all 55 looters have been in court in the last eight years. He begged the judiciary to expedite trials in corruption cases before them.
“Unless this very important arm of government fully joins in waging this war, the pending cases of corruption will just drag on until they outlast this administration,” he said.
“The situation is dire and the time to act is now. For example, between the period 2006 and 2013, just 55 people allegedly
stole a total of N1.34 trillion in Nigeria. That’s more than a quarter of last year’s national budget! Out of the stolen funds, 15 former governors allegedly stole N146.84 billion; four former ministers allegedly stole N7 billion; 12 former public servants, both at federal and state levels, allegedly stole over N14 billion; eight people in the banking industry allegedly stole N524 billion; while 11 businessmen allegedly stole N653 billion.
“ Now, what do these figures translate to in the actual sense? In other words, what is the cost of these stolen funds for Nigerians?
"Using World Bank Rates and Costs, one third of the stolen funds could have provided 635.18 kilometres of road; built 36 ultra modern hospitals,
that is one ultra modern hospital per state; built 183 schools; educated 3,974 children from primary to tertiary level at 25.24 million per child; and built 20,062 units of two-bedroom houses.”
On the opinion being canvassed in some quarters that Buhari’s anti-corruption war has been a one-sided fight intended to decimate the opposition, Mohammed said that nothing could be further from the truth.
“This is the money that a few people, just 55 in number, allegedly stole within a period of just eight years. And instead of a national outrage, all we hear are these nonsensical statements that the government is fighting only the opposition or that the government is engaging in vendetta,” he said.
The Minister used the $2.1billion arms contracts scam as an example, saying that none of those indicted has denied partaking in the sharing of the money which should have been used to purchase weapons for the armed forces.
“Let’s take the latest issue of the $2.1 billion arms deals as an example. One thing is clear: funds meant to fight terrorism were deployed to another fight, the fight to keep then President Goodluck Jonathan and his party, the PDP, in power at all cost. So far, based on what we know, no one who has been accused of partaking in the sharing of the funds has denied receiving money. All we have heard from them are ludicrous reasons why they partook in sharing of the money. One said he collected 4.5 billion Naira for spiritual purposes, another said he received N2.1 billion for publicity while yet another said he got N13 billion to pay someone else for the Maritime University land.
“Should we now fold our hands and allow these people to go away with public funds? Is anyone thinking about the innocent soldiers who lost their lives just because they did not get the necessary weapons to fight the terrorists? What about the families left behind by these soldiers who were sent to their early graves because of the misappropriation of these funds? What about those who lost their means of livelihood after the terrorists overran their towns and villages? What of the millions of Nigerians, especially women and children, who are now living in IDP camps? Is it not clear that the cruel fate that has befallen these unfortunate people is a direct result of the misuse of the funds meant to fight the terrorists? Are these not the true costs of corruption?”
THE CATEGORIES OF TREASURY LOOTERS AND WHAT THEY STOLE.
1.) 15 ex-governors stole
N146,840,800,000.00
2.) 4 former ministers stole
N7,050,000,000.00
3.) 5 ex-legislators stole
N8,350,000,000.00
4.) 7 former public servants (Federal) stole N6,906,600,000.00
5.) 5 ex-public servants (State) stole N7,275,000,000.00
6.) 8 Banking industry executives stole
N524,560,000,000.00
7.) 11 businessmen stole
N653,150,000,000.00
Grand total of theft by the 55 privileged individuals;
N1,354,132,400,000.00
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