Abuja claims recovery of $1b looted before and after Buhari came to power
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Up to $1 billion looted from the treasury before and after Muhammadu Buhari became President in 2015 has been recovered and deployed to various sectors of the economy, including poverty alleviation.
Federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Abubakar Malami, who made the disclosure in Abuja, said Goodluck Jonathan convicted 109 financial criminals before 2015 but Buhari has convicted more than 3,000 and recovered about $1 billion.
He expressed concern over budget padding and pledged the government would take measures to address the menace.
The “FEC approved validation extension of the National Anti- Corruption program to 2026. A new policy which resulted from cooperation amongst Justice,” he disclosed.
Malami said apart from sums already recovered, “the new anti-corruption strategy will strengthen the war against corruption between 2022 and 2026.”
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Budget padding
Malami decried budget padding by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on the back of several revelations from the ongoing MDAs budget defence in the National Assembly (NASS), via reporting by Vanguard.
Saddiya Farouk, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, has blamed Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed for adding N206 billion to the Humanitarian Ministry’s budget.
Farouq told the Senate Special Duties Committee on 21 November the ministry requested funds for projects for the North East Development Commission and the National Social Safety Net Project in the 2022 budget, which were not released, but she was surprised to see an inflated amount in the 2023 budget of the ministry.
Senator Elisha Abbo (APC, Adamawa North), had asked her about the inflated N206 billion in the budget.
“Yes, we made mention of the projects for 2022 that were not released, and part of it was for the NEDC,” Farouq replied.
Malami said the federal government is studying details of budget padding and would do what is necessary to address the theft.