Kemi Adeosun, minister of
finance, has reassured Nigerians that the cash recoveries being made by
agencies of government in President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption drive
will not be re-looted.
Fielding questions at a press
conference on the World Bank, IMF meetings in Washington, Adeosun said the
country now has a single account for reconciling recovered funds, to avoid
re-looting.
“We have a recovery account. All the
recovered monies go into the recovery account which we reconcile,” Adeosun
said.
“Now, in the budget, there was the
provision that some recovered monies would go into it and that goes into
specific projects in the budget. Any excess recoveries we have to wait and take
some decisions. So far, we have recovered up to the amount we are expecting in
the budget.
But what we are trying to do is to make
sure that there real controls, that was why we created a central recovery
account. What we also discovered is that so many agencies are recovering and we
must keep and eyes on those recoveries, otherwise there is the risk of
re-looting.
“So, all the agencies that recover send
us their returns monthly and then we sweep it into a central account which is
kept by the Accountant General, so that we can reconcile.
“Even some of the cash that is
recovered, we have to make sure it goes into the bank. You’d be surprised; some
agencies will recover cash, and they think it is evidence, and we are saying
no, its money, put it in the bank.
“This is something that is new and I
think it is a good thing. As we recover more, we get better at it. It is a new
thing in Nigeria.”
According to SBM Intelligence, a
consulting firm, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has
recorded 38 recoveries, which amount to N146.4 billion, $217.3 million
and £2.074 million, as at April 19, 2017.
Courtesy: Cable News
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