Government officials who looted Nigeria's money have secretly started returning the funds to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
President Muhammadu Buhari
Public funds that have so far been returned by some past government officials who looted the treasury while in the saddle are currently with the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sunday Punch reports.
Although the amount of looted funds recovered cannot be ascertained and the names still hidden, however, it has been confirmed that past dubious Nigerian leaders have been returning the money they looted to the Central Bank of Nigeria. This was revealed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, who confirmed that the looted fund was being returned to government coffers through the CBN.
He said only the apex bank could speak on how much had been returned to the government.
He said, “The looted fund is being returned through CBN. Only the bank can speak on the procedure, and how much has been returned so far.”
He also said the president is yet to make a decision whether to prosecute those who have returned looted funds. Adesina said, “The President has not made a declaration on whether those who returned money voluntarily would still be prosecuted or not.”
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, had told journalists at Friday’s Federation Accounts Allocation Committee meeting in Abuja that the Federal Government had yet to put a specific figure to the amount of money so far returned by those who looted the treasury, saying the process was still ongoing.
According to her, when collated, the funds would be returned to where they were stolen from.
The minister said, “There is no figure on the funds being returned yet. The process is ongoing. When it is completed and the accounts are available, they would be returned to where they were stolen from. We haven’t come to that yet.”
It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had while speaking during an interactive session he had with members of the Nigerian community in the Islamic Republic of Iran disclosed that some past government officials who stole public funds had started returning parts of their loot to government coffers voluntarily.