Following its announcement on Saturday that it has recovered N78, 325,354,631.82; $185,119,584.61; £3,508,355.46 and €11, 250 from treasury looters, the Federal Government has disclosed that it has set up a dedicated account for recovered loot.
The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay, disclosed this on Sunday during a chat with The Punch.
“An account has been set up for it and at an appropriate time, what is going to be done with the money will be made public. The amount that is available in that account will be announced and what will be done with the money will be publicly announced,” he said
On the failure of the government to name looters, Sagay said that the reason is more political than legal.
He argued that naming looters who have returned money may discourage those who are still considering returning theirs.
He also said that government might not want to embarrass some honorable Nigerians who received looted funds unknowingly and have returned them.
“The way I see it, it is more political than legal. It is not party politics but about conduct. I believe the government feels that if you name names, those who are about to come out and also bring out whatever has been looted, would withdraw.
“On the legal side, I don’t see the problem that is being talked about because once a person is going to be charged to court for corruption or illegally acquiring resources, there is no liability in announcing it.
“After all, we have been seeing the names of all those accused and charged. So, the main reason is to encourage others, who are still hiding their loot and speculating what to do, to come out and hand over the loot so that the country can recover more of what has been stolen.
“There are some people who actually received those assets and money without knowing that it was stolen or whose knowledge of the source would be very difficult to establish.
“So, if you are in a situation, where you thought your political party had raised money legitimately and you were given an amount for the purpose of campaign, then you may have a strong case against any criminal charge like the newspapers, who have received money, but you may be willing to return the money having found out that it was illegitimately acquired,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has indicated that the recovered loot will be spent on infrastructure.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adeshina disclosed this on Sunday while fielding questions from newsmen.
“The President said sometime ago in Kaduna that recovered money would be spent on the development of infrastructure. The infrastructure includes roads and railways among others.
“Nigerians can be assured that the money would be spent transparently and judiciously. They have nothing to fear.
“These funds would be spent to better the lives of Nigerians; this is what this government is committed to.”
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