There were indications on Tuesday that paucity of funds available to the Federal Government to meet infrastructural needs, especially the implementation of the 2020 budget when passed, may compel the government to channel most of the funds so far recovered through its anti-graft policy into the budget.
President Muhammadu Buhari noted recently that once the court forfeited assets recovered from looters to the government, he usually ordered that they be sold and the proceeds paid into the Federation Account.
The president had hinted that he settled for such measures to prevent situations where the forfeited assets would be repossessed once government changes hands.
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, echoed the stance of the government on Tuesday in Abuja when he spoke at the 10th annual conference of the Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) with the theme, Insecurity and Corruption: Implication for Development in Africa.
Malami, who was represented by the Special Assistant to the President on Justice Reforms and International Relations, Juliet Nwagwu, said no administration in the country had taken steps like the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to recover funds of illicit origin.
The minister said: “Permit me to say that no government has taken steps like the government of president Buhari’s administration to recover funds of illicit origin.
“These funds have also been paid into the federation account and are being used to fund the national budget.
“For the first time in 2017, the president authorised that there should be a revenue item in the Appropriation Act that refers to the item called recovered asset as a revenue item in all budget process.”
Speaking on the issues of corruption, the minister noted that the Buhari government in 2015 initiated six bills to help the administration in its anti-graft war.
Malami said that two of the six bills had been passed by the president while the government was in the process of re-presenting the remaining four to the National Assembly.
He said: “Corruption and insecurity is a huge problem in Nigeria and many other African states that has so far defied solution and is responsible for much of the economic underperformance in the continent.
“While significant progress has been made in tackling corruption and improving security a lot of work still needs to be done in order to build sustainable approaches and enduring institutions.
“There is no doubt that high level corruption can fuel insecurity and lead to weak economy and widespread inequality.
“It is against this background that President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 commenced the process of taking various steps in tackling corruption and insecurity in Nigeria as well as reaching out to other African countries.
“Since 2015, through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the federal government has initiated several laws and policies to strengthen the fight against corruption both within the public and private sector.
“Some of the bills initiated in 2015 are: the Financial Intelligence Agency bill, the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill, the Proceeds of Crime bill, the Money Laundering Prohibition repeal bill as well as another bill that is meant to deal with the issue of terrorism known as the Terrorist Prohibition and Prevention bill.
“As at today, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence bill that is aimed to ensure that intelligence on stolen fund is available to all law enforcement agencies as well as anti-corruption agencies has been passed and has been assented to by the president.
“The Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill gives the attorney general the power to get information on all criminal related investigation from outside Nigeria has also been passed into law and have been assented to by the president. Unfortunately, we have not been able to get the other bills passed but we are re-presenting them to the National Assembly and we hope that by next year those bills would have been passed into law.”
On his part, the Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Garba Abari, urged Nigerians to join hands with the Federal Government to tackle the problems of corruption and insecurity.
Abari, who was represented by the Director, Documentation, Translation and Publication at the agency, Dr. Davidson Aminu, said: “If we must develop as a country, if we must be at par with other countries, collectively, we must fight corruption. On the other hand, the problem of insecurity remains one that we must fight collectively.”
Also, the National Coordinator of CEPEJ, Sheriff Mulade, commended the federal government on the recoveries made so far and urged the government to use the funds to provide infrastructure and basic needs for Nigerians.
He also urged the federal government to continue to work to ensure that Nigeria’s money stashed overseas was recovered and returned to the country.
