Inability of the relevant agencies to tally the various recovered loots has been blamed as reason why President Muhammadu Buhari failed to name and shame looters of the treasury and amounts so far recovered as he had earlier promised.
Nigerians had expected the president to reel out the various monies recovered by his government in his Democracy Day broadcast but they were disappointed as the president shifted the responsibility to the Minister of Information at a later date.
A Presidency source told Political Economist that the president was willing and eager to keep to his word but the inability of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the office of Minister of Justice as well as Finance Ministry to agree on the actual amounts recovered made it impossible for Mr. President to name the looters
It would be recalled that the president had at various times in the recent times assured Nigerians that he would make public the details of the assets recovered and their respective looters in his Democracy Day speech.
However, during his broadcast on Sunday, the president admitted that some significant amount of assets have already been recovered but he shifted the responsibility of making public the details to the Ministry of Information.
“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. Full details of the status and categories of the assets will now be published by the Ministry of Information and updated periodically.” The president said that the funds would be plough back into the national treasuries when forfeiture formalities were completed.
“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”, the President said.
He promised rough times for the militants wreaking havoc in the Niger Delta, promising to apprehend the militants and their sponsors.
“On the Niger Delta, we are committed to implementing the United Nations Environment Programme report and are advancing clean-up operations. I believe the way forward is to take a sustainable approach to address the issues that affect the delta communities. Re-engineering the amnesty programmes is an example of this.
“The recent spate of attacks by militants disrupting oil and power installations will not distract us from engaging leaders in the region in addressing Niger Delta problems. If the militants and vandals are testing our resolve, they are much mistaken. We shall apprehend the perpetrators and their sponsors and bring them to justice”, he said.
