President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday failed to give specific
details of recovered loot as part of his anti-corruption war during his
Democracy Day speech, consequently reneging on an earlier promise he made to
that effect.
Mr. Buhari had on May 14 said in London that he would personally
provide specific details of all recovered stolen public funds because he
believed that what Nigerians were being fed through the media were not detailed
enough.
“So far, what has come out, what has been recovered in whatever
currency from each ministries, departments and individuals, I intend on the
29th to speak on this because all Nigerians are getting from the mass media
because of the number of people arrested either by the EFCC, DSS. But we want
to make a comprehensive report on the 29th,” Mr. Buhari said while attending
the anti-corruption summit in London.
But during his nationwide broadcast on Sunday morning, the
president only repeated previous claims that his administration was grappling
with bureaucratic hurdles that make it difficult for stolen assets to be
recovered from foreign jurisdictions.
“We are also engaged in making recoveries of stolen assets some
of which are in different jurisdictions. The processes of recovery can be
tedious and time consuming, but today I can confirm that thus far: significant
amount of assets have been recovered. A considerable portion of these are at
different stages of recovery.
Rather than personally speak on the matter and provide specific
details as promised, Mr. Buhari only said he had directed the Ministry of
Information to periodically publish details on the assets recovered so far.
“Full details of the status and categories of the assets will
now be published by the Ministry of Information and updated periodically. When
forfeiture formalities are completed these monies will be credited to the
treasury and be openly and transparently used in funding developmental projects
and the public will be informed,” Mr. Buhari said.
Based on the President’s May 14 promise, millions of Nigerians
had on Sunday morning stayed glued to their radio and TV for the Democracy Day
speech.
Some
of them said they were dissappointed that Mr. Buhari failed to keep his
promise.
The president and his government have of recent come under
pressure to publicly substantiate his claims that billions of dollars have been
recovered through the administration’s intensified war against graft.
Meanwhile, Mr. Buhari repeated his ministers’ claim that the
administration had been able to successfully eliminate 43,000 ‘ghost’ workers
that were costing the government N4.2 billion every month from the federal
payroll.
“An important first step has been to get our housekeeping right.
So we have reduced the extravagant spending of the past. We started boldly with
the treasury single account, stopping the leakages in public expenditure.
“In addition, we will save Twenty-Three Billion Naira per annum
from official travelling and sitting allowances alone,” Mr. Buhari said.
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